liHllliiiiniiiDlilliUi 


•  ilriitiriliifililfiii 


tliilliiiihiiiili.UtiilKiitlliil 


-  PRINCETON,     N.     J.  x'' 


BV  230  .C8  1862 

Gumming,  John,  1807-1881. 

Teach  us  to  pray 

SAf 

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By  the  Author  of  this  Volume 


Tns  Great  Tbibclatiok  ;  or  Things  Comiug on  the  Earth  (two  series). 
The  Gkeat  Pkepabatiox  ;  or  Retlemption  Draweth  Nigh  (two  series). 


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TEACH  US  TO  PRAY^ 


BXPEEIMENTAIi,   DOCTRINAL,   AND   PKACTICAL 
OBSERVATIONS 


THE    lord's    prayer. 


BT  THE 

REV.   JOHN    GUMMING,    D.  D.,    F.  R.  S.  E., 

Minister  of  the  Scottish  National  Church  ; 

author  of 

"Thb  Gekat  Teibulation,"  <'  The  Great  Pkepaeation,'*  bto- 


^. 


NEW    YOEK: 

Carleton,  PvUisher^  413  Broadway. 

(Late  Eudd  &  Carleton.) 
M  DCCC  LXII. 


~rT — — 


0  logical/' 


PREFACE. 


These  lectures  were  very  favorably  re- 
garded by  the  large  congregations  who 
heard  them.  They  were  believed  by  them 
to  embody  many  precious  truths  and  com- 
forting thoughts,  worthy  of  a  more  perma- 
nent shape.  The  preacher  has  complied 
with  the  desires  of  numbers  of  his  flock 
by  printing  this  volume,  on  the  reading  of 
which  he  fervently  prays  a  divine  blessing 
may  rest.  Making  no  pretensions  to  any- 
thing startling,  novel,  or  eloquent,  it  may 
nevertheless  be  found  to  set  old  truths  in  a 
new  light,  or  at  a  new  angle,  or  in  fresh 
and  suggestive  illustrations.  The  edifica- 
tion or  comfort  of  his  people  is  his  earnest 
desire  as  well  as  most  coveted  reward. 


Mljid]  art  m  |faton, 

iingkni  tome.     ®fe  Mill  Ire  hm  k 

Mi  m  a  h  m  ])tmi      §ik  us  i\h  gag 

0ur  gailg  '§xA     gn^  forgibe  us  0ur 

trespasses,  as  toe  fargibe  ll]eiu  ifeat 

trespass  against  us.    gn^  lea^  us 

n0t  k\a  tcmplation;  but  ^eliber 

us  fr0m  €bil :  for  Mm  is 

%  Singirant,  tlje  fotoer, 

auiJ  tl]e  (BlariT,  far 

eber  autj  eljer. 

giineu. 


._i 


if 


CONTENTS 


Lbotubb                                                                                           Faob 
l.—IT  IS   GOOD  TO  DRAW  NEAR    TO    GOD H 

U.—Oim  FATHER 38 

m.— THE  ADORING   WORSHIPPER 68 

TV  .—A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE 102 

v.— ^  SUBMISSIVE  HEART. 134 

VI.— THE  CRT  OF  THE  CHILDREN 3C4 

Vll.—THE  CRT  OF  THE  SLNFTTL 196 

VIU.—THE  CRT  OF  THE  TEMPTED 228 

IX.— THE  GREA  T  DELIVERER 257 

X.— ADORATION. 282 


TEACH    US    TO    PRAY. 


I. 

U  IS   GOOD  TO  DRAW  NEAR  TO    QOD. 
"  Bnt  it  is  good  for  me  to  draw  near  to  God."— Psalm  Ixxiii.  28. 

We  are  by  nature,  says  the  apostle,  far  off 
from  God.  Such  is  the  expressive  portrait  of 
humanity  in  its  natural  and  fallen  condition — 
"ye  who  were  sometime  far  off."  We  are  told 
by  another,  "  your  sins  have  separated  between 
vou  and  God."  We  are  distant  from  Him,  not 
l"liysically,  that  cannot  be ;  not  locally,  for  He  is 
omnipresent ;  not  as  if  we  could  in  any  way  se- 
crete or  hide  ourselves  from  His  eye,  for  the  dark- 
ness is  as  light  to  Him,  and  the  night  sliall  be  as 
light  about  us ;  but  morally  and  spiritually, 
which  is  really  and  truly,  we  are  far  off,  or  at  a 
distance  from  God. 


IJ  TEACH   rS   TO    J'JiAF 

This  (listjince,  too,  is  not  a  fixed  tuin;^,  it  is 
cninulutive;  tliat  is,  the  longer  it  lasti*  tlie  wider 
it  hecomes,  so  tliat  lie  who  has  continued  the 
longest  period  at  this  moral  or  spiritual  distance 
from  God,  has  reached  the  furthest,  until,  in 
many  an  instance,  he  plunges  into  that  Atheism 
on  earth,  and  ruin  hereafter,  whicli  constitute  the 
aphelion,  or  greatest  possible  distance  from  the 
Sun  of  all  light  and  all  love,  Christ  Jesus.  It  is, 
therefore,  a  very  solemn  thing,  that  distance  from 
God  is  not  a  fixture,  but  a  progressive  and  a 
cumulating  estrangement,  that  has  its  final  issue 
in  everlasting  misery,  unless  averted,  and  the 
subject  of  it  becomes  converted,  and  instead  of 
being  under  the  centrifugal  attraction  that  throws 
him  from  God,  comes  within  the  centripetal  at- 
traction that  draws  him  to  God  in  Christ  Jesus. 

The  eflfect  of  the  distance  from  God  is  not  sim- 
ply cumulative  in  itself,  but  along  with  that  in- 
crease of  distance  or  estrangement,  there  is  an 
increase  of  indisposition  to  go  back.  It  is  a  very 
sad  fact,  but  a  very  true  one,  that  the  further 


IT  IS  GOOD  TO  DRAW  NEAR  TO  GOD.        13 

from  God  a  sinner  goes,  the  less  he  is  disposed  to 
retrace  his  steps,  and  return.  In  other  words, 
he  hardens  in  insensibility  to  God's  claims,  as  he 
proceeds,  or  rather  recedes,  and  thereby  his  in- 
disposition to  have  any  communion  with  God  is 
uiTgi'avated  and  strengthened  day  by  day.  As 
distance  from  the  sun  in  the  natural  world  is  the 
deprival  or  the  deprivation  of  all  light,  and 
warmth,  and  genial  influence,  so  a  sinner's 
estrangement  from  God,  as  it  increases,  is  the 
deprivation  of  all  that  can  make  him  truly  hap- 
py ;  for,  disguise  it  as  you  like,  or  doubt  it  as 
you  may,  there  is  no  happiness  except  the  spring 
of  it,  real  religion,  be  in  the  heart ;  and  there  is 
nothing  but  misery,  disguised  and  diluted,  it 
may  be, — modified  by  temporary  experience,  if 
you  like, — but  still  misery,  as  long  as  man  is  far 
otf  and  remains  at  a  distance  from  God. 

Now,  however  bad  this  state  may  be,  and  it  is 
very  bad,  it  has  one  feature  that  is  most  re- 
deeming. There  is  not  an  individual  so  far  from 
God,  that  he  is  beyond  the  reach  of  God's  saving 


14  TEACH  US  TO  PR  \Y. 

arm,  or  the  sound  of  God's  fatlierly  voice.  It  is 
our  only  comfort  in  this  state  of  estrangement 
from  God,  that  we  are  not  beyond  the  possibilities 
of  return,  that  the  door  is  open,  and  the  voice 
still  sounding,  "  Return  unto  me,  why  will  ye 
die  ?  Come  unto  me,  all  that  are  weary  and 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.''  If  so,  it 
is  good,  oh,  most  good,  to  draw  near  to  God. 

Tlie  statement  of  the  Psalmist,  which  is  simply 
the  experience  of  the  Christian,  for  David  was  a 
Christian  as  truly  as  John,  or  Peter,  or  James, 
implies  in  the  first  place,  that  God  lias  revealed 
Himself.  We  cannot  draw  near  to  a  Being  we 
do  not  know,  and  whose  place  we  cannot  find, 
and  whose  disposition  towards  us  is  wrapt  in  im- 
penetrable secrecy.  A  God  unknown  is  neces- 
sarily a  God  feared.  An  eternity  that  man  has 
never  sounded,  or  on  which  he  has  never  seen 
light  fall,  is  an  eternity  from  which  he  instinct- 
ively, and  necessarily,  and  naturally  shrinks.  A 
God  unseen  we  may  draw  near  to,  but  a  God 
unknown  wo  cann"i  .Iimu-  n.-.t-  t.i    "\V.' m.-iv  l.ive 


IT  IS  GOOD  TO  DRAW  NE  iJi  TO  GOD.        15 

the  unseeu,  but  we  can  never  love  the  unknown. 
But  God  has  revealed  Himself  in  all  the  features, 
attributes,  and  endearments  of  a  Father.  So  that 
we  may  draw  near  to  Him  with  the  confiding 
love  wherewith  children  approach  an  affectionate 
father,  and  breathe  at  his  footstool  the  sublimest 
litany  angels  can  utter,  the  simplest  one  that 
babes  can  learn,  "  Our  Father,  which  art  in  hea- 
ven ;"  "  whom  having  not  seen  we  love,  and  in 
whom,  though  now  we  see  him  not,  yet  believing" 
— (and  faith  is  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen) — 
"  we  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of 
glory."  In  other  words,  God  has  revealed  Him- 
self, we  have  not  a  God  to  be  discovered  by  our 
researches,  but  a  God  revealed  by  Himself.  God 
has  left  us  one  portrait  of  Himself,  and  only  one, 
the  only  portrait  of  Deity  that  is  lawful,  His  own 
holy  and  blessed  Word.  It  is  the  autograph  of 
Deity,  it  bears  on  it  the  signature,  as  it  reflects 
the  exact  likeness  of  God  Himself.  And  does  not 
this  suggest  the  inquiry — is  it  not  very  odd  that 
men  professing  themselves  Christians  should  have 


16  TEACn  us  TO  PR  A  Y. 

made  likenesses  of  God  of  gold  and  silver,  and 
wood,  and  stone,  and  bread,  and  wax,  and  should 
have  fallen  down  and  worshipped  them,  but  that 
they  never  should  have  thought  of  worshipping: 
the  only  picture  of  Uimself  which  God  has  be- 
queathed. His  own  holy  Book  ?  Why  this  ?  Be- 
cause, while  men  worshipped  gold,  silver,  and 
stone,  the  objects  worshipped  were  dumb  ;  but 
if  they  had  worshipped  this  portrait,  fire  would 
have  rushed  from  its  mouth,  as  from  the  mouths 
of  the  Apocalyptic  witnesses,  and  revealed  in  the 
splendor  that  consumed  the  idolater,  "  It  is  writ- 
ten, Tliou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and 
him  only  shalt  thou  serve." 

God  has  not  only  revealed  Himself  in  this  Bi- 
ble for  us  to  draw  near  to  ;  but,  secondly,  God 
authorizes  and  asks,  and  encourages  us  to  draw 
near  to  Him,  and  all  this  implies  that  lie  has 
first  drawn  near  to  us.  There  is  nothini;  that 
a  Ciiristian  docs,  or  thinks,  or  feels,  that  is  orig- 
inal ;  it  is  purely  responsive.  God's  movement 
is  the  original,  man's  movement  to  Him   is  the 


IT  IS  GOOD  TO  DRAW  NE  Hi  TO  GOD.        17 

response  to  it.  God's  Word  calling  us  is  the 
original  summons ;  man's  eclio,  "  I  come,"  is  the 
answer  to  it.  Therefore,  unless  God  has  first 
moved,  first  loved,  first  chosen,  we  shall  never 
move,  we  shall  never  love,  we  shall  never  choose. 
It  is  to  ascertain  whether  you  are  elect  or  not, 
by  just  ascertaining  whether  you  are  Christians 
or  not.  If  you  have  chosen  God  most  solemnly 
to  be  your  God,  there  is  no  doubt  that  He  has 
chosen  you  to  be  his  people.  Instead,  therefore, 
of  trying  to  penetrate  the  impenetrable  mystery 
that  is  above,  ascertain  the  plain  and  the  obvious 
fact  that  is  below.  Am  I  a  Christian  ?  If  I  am, 
then  why  should  I  trouble  myself  about  election  ? 
I  know  that  I  am  elect,  by  the  fact  that  I  see, 
and  feel,  and  manifest  that  I  am  regenerate,  and 
am  a  child  of  God.  K  we  draw  near  to  God,  it 
is  implied  He  has  drawn  near  to  us  first. 

And  He  has  not  only  given  a  magnificent 
apocalypse  of  Himself  by  revealing  Himself,  but 
He  has  come  so  near  to  us  that  we  can  see  Him, 
and  yet  remains  so  truly  Deity  that  we  cannot 


18  TEACn  us  TO  PRAY. 

miss  God  revealed  in  Ilira.  The  chasm  between 
(i"(l  and  us  made  by  sin — which  is  the  explosive 
jiihI  rending  element  of  the  material  and  moral 
world — was  so  wide,  and  so  deep,  and  so  dark, 
that  we  had  no  wings  to  fly  across  it,  no  foot 
that  could  wade  it;  we  could  not  spring  an  arch 
from  this  side  to  the  other  that  should  touch  the 
opposing  precipice  that  was  above.  If,  there- 
fore, Gud  had  not  come  down  to  us,  we  never 
had  gone  up  to  llim.  If  lie  had  not  drawn  nigli 
to  us,  we  never  could  have  drawn  near  to  II im, 
nor  could  the  believer  have  recorded  ihe  blessed 
truth,  '•  It  is  good  for  me  to  draw  near  to  God.  " 
If  you  will  read  the  whole  past  history  of  God's 
dealings  witli  mankind,  you  will  find  that  every 
page  and  chapter  of  it  is  a  record  of  a  distinct  act 
of  approacii,  on  God's  part,  to  us  His  apostate 
family.  He  drew  near  to  Adam  when  Adam 
wo\>ld  not  and  could  not  draw  near  to  him,  for 
Adam  ran  from  God,  tried  to  hide  himself  amid 
the  trees  of  tlie  garden,  and  only  by  God  going 
aft.r  l.Iii.,  '.,,,]  .1  ;\\ving  near  to  him,   did    Adam 


IT  IS  GOOD  TO  DRAW  NEAR  TO  GOD.        19 

stay,  and  finally  draw  near  to  God,  God  drew 
near  to  Enoch,  when  He  walked  with  him,  and 
took  liiin,  and  he  was  not.  God  drew  near  to 
Noah,  when,  in  the  touchingly  beautiful  but  sim- 
ple language.  He  "  shut  him  in."  God  drew 
near  to  Abraham,  and  made  him  His  friend, His 
companion,  and  His  confidant.  All  the  ancient 
types  are  the  footprints  of  God,  drawing  near  to 
humanity.  All  the  ancient  promises  are  the 
sounds  of  the  voice  of  our  Father,  asking  after 
His  suspicions,  wandering,  and  still  beloved 
family  ;  all  the  sacrifices  and  institutions  of  Levi 
are  the  shadows  of  God  that  sweep  over  the 
world,  or  rather  the  sunshine  of  His  counte- 
nance, telling  us  that  the  good  Shepherd  is  after 
the  lost  sheep,  that  the  candle  is  lighted,  and 
that  the  owner  is  looking  for  the  lost  coin,  that 
He  may  eflface  the  superscription  of  evil  that  is  on 
it,  and  restamp  it  with  His  own  holy,  and  di- 
vine, and  pure  signature. 

But  God's  nearest  and  dearest  drawing  near  to 
us  is  recorded  in  the  Gospels  of  the  New  Testa- 


20  TEACn  us  TO  PIIA  Y. 

raent.  He  drew  near  to  us  there  in  sncli  a  way 
as  man  never  dreamed  of,  and  man  still  must  re- 
ceive as  a  mystery.  "  He  came  to  His  own,  and," 
what  an  awful  response,  "his  own  received  him 
not."  He  came  clothed  in  our  humanity.  He 
entered  the  home  of  Martha  and  of  Mary,  He 
talked  to  the  publican  in  his  house.  He  visited 
tiie  hall  of  Pilate,  He  came  into  the  grave  that 
sin  had  made,  and  mankind  lay  in,  that  lie 
mii'lit  draw  so  ueai'  and  so  close  to  us,  that  there 
should  be  no  mistake  that  God  had  drawn  near 
to  us.  How  did  man  receive  Him  ?  If  we  were 
to  hear  in  a  strange  land  that  God  had  thus 
come  so  near  to  us,  and  done  it  at  so  great  a  sac- 
rifice, wo  would  say.  Surely  the  whole  atmos- 
phere rang  with  acclamations,  and  men  shouted 
in  ecstasy  and  joy,  "  Lo,  this  is  our  God,  we  have 
waited  for  him,  llosanna,  blessed  ishethatcom- 
cth  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  Alas,  it  was  not 
80.  Men  to  whom  He  thus  drew  near  at  so  great 
asacritice,  instead  of  welcoming  Him  with  shouts, 
cried  with  one  voico,atloa8t  with  few  dissentient 


IT  IS  GOOD  TO  DRAW  NEAR  TO  GOD.        21 

ones,  "  Away  with  liira,  away  witli  him,  Crucify 
him,  crucify  him  ;  it  is  not  fit  that  he  should 
live."  How  deceived  was  poor  Plato,  poor  mo- 
rally, though  great  intellectually,  when  he  pre- 
dicted, that  God  would  at  length  come  down  to 
man,  and  tell  him  the  secrets  that  Avere  un- 
sounded, that  the  whole  world  would  fall  down 
and  worship  him.  "What  an  awful  fact,  that  the 
only  spotless,  unstained,  holy  Being  that  ever 
appeared  upon  the  earth,  mankind  had  so  little 
sympathy  with,  because  their  hearts  are  enmity 
to  God ;  that  they  nailed  Ilim  to  a  cross,  and 
treated  Him  as  the  greatest  of  criminals  !  If, 
then,  God's  drawing  near  to  us  was  thus  re- 
ceived, one  would  surely  infer  God  must  have  left 
us  for  ever.  If  His  drawing  near  to  us  in  such 
circumstances,  and  at  such  a  sacrifice,  was  thus 
received,  thus  responded  to,  any  one  hearing  it 
80  far  would  say,  Then  God  must  have  given  us 
up  as  a  hopeless  race,  as  not  worthy  of  another 
effort  at  retrieval.  Did  He  do  so  ?  His  ways  are 
not  our  ways,  nor  His  thoughts  our   thoughts. 


22  TEACH  US  TO  FHAY. 

We  should  have  done  so,  but  God  did  not. 
After  we  had  thus  i-ejected  Him,  and  despised 
Him,  and  treated  Him  as  a  criminal  not  fit  to 
live,  and  crucified  the  Son  of  God,  and  laid  Him 
in  an  ignominious  grave  ;  God,  so  far  from  giving 
US  up  to  the  consequences  that  we  had  so  deliber- 
ately elected,  sent  His  Holy  Spirit  into  the  hearts 
of  the  murderers  of  the  Lord  of  Glory,  to  per- 
suade them  of  the  greatness  of  their  sin,  and  of 
the  excellency-  of  the  Saviour,  and  of  His  readi- 
ness to  save  the  greatest  sinner  that  would  lay 
aside  the  weapons  of  his  rebellion,  and  draw 
near  to  Him  for  mercy  and  for  forgiveness. 
And  still  that  Spirit  strives  with  man — still  that 
Holy  Spirit  bids  us  retrace  our  steps,  repent  of 
our  sins ;  for  the  crucifixion  of  the  Son  of  God 
was  not  the  act  of  a  Jew,  it  was  the  deed  of 
all  humanity ;  and  God,  instead  of  punishing  us 
with  just  and  righteous  retribution,  sends  His 
Holy  Spirit  to  take  of  the  things  of  Christ,  and 
show  them  to  us,  so  that  we  shall  be  ashamed 
of  the  past,  repent  of  our  misdoings,  believe  on 


IT  IS  GOOD  TO  DRAW  NEAR  TO  GOD.         23 

Him  who  is  set  forth  as  the  propitiation  through 
faith  in  His  blood,  and  by  faith  have  peace  with 
God  tlirough  Jesus  Christ.  I  do  say  the  his- 
tory of  God's  drawing  near  to  us  is  the  most 
wonderful  of  all  wonderful  things,  it  reveals  such 
a  depth  of  love  in  God's  bosom  towards  us  sin- 
ners, as  justified  an  Apostle  who  had  been  in 
the  third  heavew,  and  might  be  the  most  able  to 
express  it,  "  0  the  height  and  depth,  tlie  length 
and  breadth,  of  the  love  of  God !  it  passeth  all 
understanding." 

Having  seen  how  God  has  drawn  near  to  us 
by  His  Son,  and  still  by  His  Spirit,  I  might  add 
that  He  draws  near  to  us  in  His  providence. 
What  are  afflictions?  Private  and  special  mes- 
sages to  those  whom  He  loves.  What  are  be- 
reavements and  losses  ?  Yoices  in  the  wilder- 
ness saying,  "This  is  not  your  rest ;"  evidences 
that  God  is  looking  after  you.  What  are  the 
appeals  of  conscience,  the  remonstrances  of 
judgment,  the  warnings  we  meet  with,  the 
checks  we  encounter?     They  are  all  proofs  that 


24  TEACH  IS  Tn  I'/iAY. 

lit'  has  tlravMi  near  to  us,  uiid  says,  "  Behold,  I 
stand  at  the  door  and  knock  ;  if  any  man  will 
open,  I  will  come  in  and  sup  with  him,  and  hu 
witli  me." 

Let  U8  then,  in  response  to  these,  draw  near  to 
God,  wlio  has  thus  drawn  near  to  us,  not  l>y 
change  of  locality,  but  by  a  change  of  disposi- 
tion ;  not  by  a  change  of  place,  but  by  a  change 
of  feeling  towards  Ilim.  And  to  do  so,  let  us 
draw  near  to  Him  by  Christ,  the  Only  Way. — 
There  are  not  twenty  ways  to  God ;  there  is  but 
one,  and  that  one  is  announced  emphatically 
and  exclusively,  "  There  is  none  other  name 
given  among  men,"  that  is,  in  human  speech,  or 
conceivable  by  human  heart,  "by  which  we 
can  be  saved,  except  the  name  of  Jesus."  And 
that  name  is  so  complete,  that  if  engraven  upon 
the  living  heairt,  and  pleaded  from  the  depths  of 
that  heart,  it  will  be  found  to  be  the  password 
<»f  the  universe  itself,  lie  that  bus  that  name 
has  his  free  entrance  everywhere  and  anywhere. 
lie  is  free,  not   of  an  earthly  city,  but   of  the 


IT  IS  GOOl)  TO  DRA  W  .WEAR  TO  GOD.        25 

universe  itself.  "  No  man  coineth  unto  the  Fa- 
ther but  bj  rae" — there  ia  the  exclnsiveness  of 
it;  "him  that  cometli  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out" — there  is  the  liberality  and  the  wel- 
come of  it. 

We  are  to  come  by  Jesus  Christ  as  the  way, 
but  we  are  to  come  by  the  Holy  Spirit  as  our 
guide ;  for  tlie  Apostle  says,  "  We  both  have  ac- 
cess by  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father."  Let  us  not 
forget,  that  if  Christ  be  the  way,  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  the  effective,  or  the  effectual,  witness  to  that 
way.  I  can  tell  you  the  way,  and  your  outer  ear 
and  my  inner  judgment  will  acquit  me  of  speak- 
ing what  is  not  true,  yet  you  will  go  into  the 
world  and  forget  it ;  but  when  the  Holy  Spirit 
proclaims  to  the  inner  heart,  Christ  the  way,  as  I 
proclaim  it  to  the  outer  ear,  then  you  see  in  that 
way  an  attraction  that  tempts  you  with  all  your 
heart  to  enter  on  it.  The  Spirit  takes  away 
your  prejudice,  your  passions,  your  indisposition, 
your  fears,  your  doubts,  makes  you  willing,  and 
then,  in  the  language  of  the  Prophet,  you  run, 


26  TEACH  us  TO  PRAY. 

and  are  not  faint ;  you  walk,  and  are  not  weary. 
You  mount  as  with  eagle's  wings,  until  at  last 
you  find  your  home,  your  happiness,  your  rest, 
in  the  bosom  of  God  our  Father. 

But,  whilst  we  are  tljus  to  draw  near  to  God 
by  Christ  the  way,  and  in  the  strength  and  by 
the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  guide,  yet 
there  are  means  of  God's  own  appointment 
which  we  ought  to  use,  and  in  the  use  of  wliich 
God  has  promised  to  draw  near  to  us  and  bless 
us.  Let  me  mention  some  of  these  means,  be- 
cause, whilst  grace  is  sovereign,  we  must  never 
forget  that  God  having  given  a  Bible,  instituted 
preaching,  requiring  prayer,  proves  that  God 
gives  grace  by  the  use  of  certain  means.  I  ad- 
mit that  He  gives  His  blessing,  sometimes  with- 
out means,  sometimes  in  spite  of  means  ;  but  tlie 
general  law  that  He  Himself  has  instituted  is, 
that  in  seeking  Him  in  the  way  of  His  appoint- 
ment, we  shall  most  readily  find  Him.  One  of 
the  means  of  drawing  near  to  God — not  the  way 
for  that  is  Clirist  alone,  not  the  guide,  for  that  is 


IT  IS  GOOD  TO  DRAW  NEAR  TO  GOD.       27 

the  Spirit  alone, — and  making  progress  in  this 
way,  is  reading  God's  Holy  Word.  You  say — 
How  can  that  help  us  ?  A  wicked  and  worth- 
less politician  once  made  the  remark,  "Tell  a  lie 
every  day,  and  often  enough,  to  a  crowd,  and 
they  will  believe  it  to  he  truth."  If  there  is  any 
force  in  that  sentiment,  there  is  force  in  this  : 
Tell  men  God's  truth  often  enough,  and  they  are 
sure  to  believe  it.  Tlie  repetition  of  great  truths 
is  one  way  of  making  men  believe  them  ;  and 
when  those  truths  commend  themselves  to  the 
conscience,  there  is  an  additional  reason  why 
they  should  be  believed.  In  man's  conscience 
within,  and  God's  Word  without,  there  is  an 
adaptation  so  complete,  that  the  man  who  comes 
to  church  a  sceptic,  and  hears  nothing  about  the 
evidences  of  Christianity,  but  hears  the  explana- 
tion of  what  Christianity  is,  will  come  at  last 
most  thoroughly  and  heartily  to  believe,  because 
there  is  in  man's  inner  conscience,  even  in  its 
wreck,  and  God's  outer  Word,  such  an  adapta- 
tion that  there  will  be  an  impression  upon  the 


28  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

mind  of  him  wlio  hears,  tliat  the  God  who  made 
the  heart  inspired  that  Book ;  and  therefore, 
"Thy  word,  O  God,  is  truth."  l^ow,  every 
word  in  this  Book  is  a  whisper  of  the  Infinite, 
every  promise  is  a  fragment  of  heavenly  light. 
In  tliis  Book  we  can  hear  God's  voice  as  Adam 
heard  it  in  Eden  amid  the  trees  of  tlie  garden, 
and  hear  it,  not  as  the  voice  of  a  Creator  only, 
but  as  the  voice  of  a  Father. 

We  are  to  draw  near  to  God,  not  only  in 
reading  His  blessed  Word,  but  also  in  prayer. 
In  reading  the  Scripture  God  speaks  to  us,  in 
praying  we  speak  to  God.  In  reading  the  Bible 
He  comes  near  to  us,  and  we  hear  His  foot  fall 
as  He  approaches  us.  In  prayer  we  draw  near  to 
God,  and  speak  to  Him  as  children  speak  to  their 
loving  and  affectionate  father,  and  He  tells  us, 
to  encourage  us,  that  there  is  nothing  too  good  or 
too  great  that  we  may  not  ask,  that  our  lips  will 
be  closed  in  asking  long  before  His  hand  will  be 
shut  in  giving,  that  it  is  His  joy  to  hear  prayer, 
His  joy  to  give.     We  should  realize  this  fact,  that 


-^J 


IT  IS  GOOD  TO  DRAW  NEAR  TO  GOD.       29 

God's  delight  is  in  giving,  tliat  as  a  fountain 
finds  its  expression  in  overflowing,  as  a  river  in 
rushing  to  the  infinite  main,  as  trees  in  bursting 
into  life  and  blossom  in  the  spring-tide,  so  God 
feels  it  His  joy  to  give  liberally,  and  to  give  ex- 
ceeding abundantly,  and  to  give  above  all  that  we 
can  ask,  or  think,  or  desire,  for  Christ's  sake.  If, 
then,  such  be  the  response  to  prayer,  oh,  surely  it 
is  2:ood  for  us  to  draw  near  to  God. 

There  is  another  way,  also,  in  which  God  draws 
near  to  us,  that  is,  in  the  preaching  of  the  Gos- 
pel. Preaching  of  the  Gospel  is  not  simply 
speaking  what  is  good,  but  it  is  teaching  what  is 
written,  and  presenting  it  in  every  light,  showing 
it  in  every  relation,  and  pointing  out  how  it  ap- 
plies to  every  peculiarity  of  human  nature,  every 
intricacy  of  human  experience,  and  every  diffi- 
culty of  human  life.  For  instance,  a  diamond 
has  its  intrinsic  preciousness  when  you  see  it  in  a 
casket,  and  catch  a  glimpse  of  it ;  but  he  who 
wants  to  show  its  value  will  enable  you  to  see  it 
at  every  angle,  and  to  see  the  light  as  it  fiashes 


30  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

from  every  point  of  the  precious  stone.  What 
the  preacher  has  to  do  is  to  take  the  Bible,  and 
show  it  at  every  light,  encourage  you  to  study  it 
and  learn  it,  and  inwardly  to  digest  it,  until  you 
feel  that  it  is  the  most  precious  of  all  things, 
more  precious  than  gold  and  silver,  than  honey 
or  the  honeycomb.  In  preaching,  the  silent  page 
assumes  the  likeness  of  the  eloquent  sermon.  The 
apostle,  who,  being  dead,  yet  speaks,  has  his  echo 
in  the  preacher  who  takes  his  place.  The  true 
succession  to  the  apostle  consists  not  in  wearing 
his  robe,  or  being  historically  descended  from 
him,  but  in  being  the  echo  of  his  sentiments,  the 
exponent  of  his  truths  ;  so  that  men  hearing  the 
truth  may  see  it  and  feel  it,  more  perfectly  than 
they  ever  saw  it  or  felt  it  before  ;  and  persons 
hearing  a  sermon,  will  say,  not,  How  good  a 
sermon,  how  argumentative,  or  how  eloquent,  but 
"  It  was  good  for  me  to  be  here ;  a  day  in  thy 
courts  is  better  than  a  thousand  ;  the  Lord  God 
is  a  sun  and  a  shield,  he  doth  give  grace  and 
glory." 


IT  IS  GOOD  TO  DRAW  NEAR  TO  GOD.        3I 

The  next  means  of  drawing  near  to  God,   and 
the  last  that  I  will  specify,  is  a  Communion  Ta- 
ble.    This  communion  table  is  one  of  the  ordi- 
nances of  His  appointment;  and  the  man  who 
does  not  hesitate  to  read  the  Bible,  or  to  praj,  or 
to  hear  the  Gospel  preached,  should  not  hesitate 
to  add  to  the  ordinances  that  he  does  accept,  the 
observance  of  this  ordinance   about    which   he 
hesitates,    and   to    show   forth    the   Redeemer's 
death  till  he  come  again.    The  communion  table, 
not  from  anything  in  the  bread,  or  by  virtue  of 
anything  in  the  wine,  or  from  him  that  ministers 
them,  but  by  the  promise  and  the  presence  of 
Christ,  becomes  a  means  of  grace  and  nourish- 
ment to  our  souls  ;   not  by  any  sensible,  or  car- 
nal,   or  sensuous   influence,   but   by   scattering 
seeds  that  were  not  there  before,  watering  those 
that    are    there,     strengthening,    invigorating, 
comforting,  encouraging.     He  draws  near  to  us 
in  breaking  of  bread,  we  draw  near  to  Him  in 
faith    and    love.      Prayer   is   audible    worship, 
praise  also  is  audible  worship,  but  the  commu- 


32  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

nion  is  silent  worship  by  each  priest  in  the  sanc- 
tuary of  his  own  heart,  when  God's  ear  only 
hears,  and  God's  eye  only  sees ;  as  if  this  com- 
munion table  were  provided  to  supply  what  the 
other  ordinances  do  not  supply.  Men  in  the 
deepest  adoration  do  not  speak.  A  great  afflic- 
tion strikes  one  dumb,  a  great  joy  makes  one 
silent ;  in  the  deepest  worship  men  do  not  speak, 
the  holiest  feelings  have  no  exponent,  words 
limit,  break,  destroy  the  deep  current  that  is 
within,  and  expressive  silence  alone  muses  God's 
praise.  But  though  man  cannot  see  or  hear, 
God  feels  the  pulse  of  prayer,  and  hears  the 
beating  wing  of  true  devotion,  and  bears,  and 
sees,  and  seals  us  as  His  own.  At  a  communion 
table,  if  the  children  of  God,  we  thus  draw  near 
to  him  in  worship,  communion  and  adoration. 

This  nearness  to  God  is  the  very  aim,  and  end, 
and  object  of  Christianity.  Our  loss  is  separa- 
tion from  God,  our  gain  is  restoration  to  God. 
Hence,  an  Apostle  describes  it  as  the  very  high- 
est possible  state  to  which  a  Christian  can  be 


IT  IS  GOOD  TO  DRAW  NEAR  TO  GOD.        33 

raised,  "  Our  fellowship,  or  communion,  is  with 
the  Father  and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ." 

The  constant  effort  of  the  Gospel  is  to  make 
us  obey  the  call,  "  Come  unto  me,  ye  that  are 
weary  ;  ye  will  not  come  unto  me  that  ye  may 
have  life :"  and  the  very  last  words  that  we 
shall  hear  on  the  eve  of  that  vast  eternity,  that 
splits  into  two  great  compartments  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  world,  will  be,  "  Come,  ye  blessed 
of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for 
you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world." 

The  Psalmist  says,  "  It  is  good  to  draw  near  to 
God."  Ancient  philosophers,  before  the  Advent 
of  Christ,  always  disputed  among  themselves 
what  was  the  suininuin  honum^  or  what  the 
Greeks  called  the  to  xaXov — "  the  good  thing  ;" 
and  the  different  schools  of  philosophers  were  di- 
vided in  their  decisions  what  is  the  chief  good. 
AYhat  philosophy  could  not  discover,  God  has 
revealed  to  Ilis  servants.  This  is  the  chief  good, 
—  for  that  is  the  meaning  —  it  is  good,  emphati- 
cally, distinctively,  eternally,  supremely  good, 


34  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

to  draw  near  to  God.  If  you  want  the  summum 
honum,  here  it  is, — if  you  like  to  know  what  the 
highest  possible  happiness  ever  has  been,  or  ever 
will  be,  here  it  is, — drawing  near  to  God. 

Whatever  stops  you  in  this  upward  ascent  to 
God  is  wrong.  Everything  in  form,  everything 
in  worship,  everything  in  the  sanctuary,  should 
be  an  aid  to  it,  not  an  obstruction  to  it.  Every- 
thing in  the  preacher's  sermon  should  be  a  help 
to  realise  it,  not  a  blind  to  conceal  it.  The 
sceptic  puts  reason  in  the  place  of  God,  and 
thinks  that  when  he  has  drawn  near  to  reason, 
he  has  drawn  near  to  the  highest  God  ;  but  he 
finds  that  drawing  near  to  reason  as  the  arbiter 
of  truth  is  only  drawing  near  to  himself.  The 
victim  of  superstition  draws  near  to  the  altar,  the 
priest,  the  sacrament,  but  he  is  only  drawing 
near,  not  to  himself,  but  to  the  consecrated 
shadow  of  himself,  and  no  more,  instead  of  hold- 
ing those  sacraments,  and  ministers,  and  ordi- 
nances, to  be  voices  crying  in  the  wilderness, 
"  He  cometh  after  us,  whose  shoe-latchet  we  are 


IT  IS  GOOD  TO  DRAW  NEAR  TO  GOD.       35 

not  worthy  to  unloose ;  look  not  to  us,  behold 
Christ,  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the 
sins  of  the  world."  To  draw  near  to  God,  then, 
is  man's  highest  happiness,  man's  chiefest  good. 
There  is  no  rest  for  the  soles  of  our  feet  on  this 
side  of  God.  No  pinnacle  on  which  man  was 
ever  placed,  ever  satisfies  man,  for  satisfaction 
is  always  in  the  future.  We  calculate.  If  I 
could  only  reach  that  point  I  should  be  happy  ; 
and  when  we  have  got  there,  we  discover  how 
true  is  the  ancient  declaration,  often  uttered, 
now  felt,  "  Whoso  drinketh  of  this  water  will 
thirst  again  ;"  and  we  begin  to  anticipate  how 
true  is  that  which  follows,  "  But  he  that  drinketh 
of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him,  it  shall  be  in 
him  a  well  of  living  water,  springing  up  hito 
eternal  life.  Every  spot  on  which  man  ever  was, 
never  gave  him  rest.  The  poor  say.  Ah,  we  are 
poor  and  destitute,  have  scarcely  enough  to  live 
on.  That  is  very  bad,  deeply  to  be  deplored  ;  • 
but  if  you  got  those  wants  supplied,  you  would 
have  no  real  happiness.     It  is  quite  a  mistake  to 


36  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

suppose  that  you  would.  New  wants  would 
spring  up  on  every  side,  and  sorrowful  it  is, 
that  those  who  seem  to  have  no  wants  at  all,  set 
about  creating  artificial  ones,  digging  out  bro- 
ken cisterns  that  can  hold  no  water.  Man  is  an 
inexplicable  mystery  in  the  light  of  anything 
but  in  the  light  of  God's  holy  Word,  but  all  past 
experience  has  proved,  what  all  future  experience 
will  respond  to,  that  in  real  religion,  that  is,  in 
the  love  of  God,  the  fear  of  God,  the  worship  of 
God,  the  service  of  God,  there  is  real  happiness  ; 
and  in  anything  from  which  this  is  absent,  there 
is  no  happiness  at  all. 

Have  we  drawn  near  to  God  ?  This  is  the  first 
thing.  The  communion  table  is  not  God,  it  is 
merely  an  elevation  on  which  we  may  see  God 
more  clearly,  and  which  helps  us  to  find  and 
know  Him  more  certainly.  Have  you  drawn 
near  to  God  ?  He  who  has  no  religion  has  no 
happiness.  Life  in  such  a  case  becomes  a  con- 
stant parrying  of  thoughts,  anxieties,  and  fears. 
The  whole  life  is  spent  in  keeping  at  the  most 


IT  IS  GOOD  TO  DRiW  NEAR  TO  GOD.       37 

respectable  distance  from  self,  and  wliat  self  is, 
and  what  self  may  justly  and  naturally  antici- 
pate. You  dread  scepticism,  lest  it  should  de- 
stroy you  ;  you  dread  Christianity,  lest  it  should 
disquiet  you.  You  will  not  be  a  sceptic,  because 
your  conscience  will  not  let  you ;  you  will  not 
be  a  Christian,  because  your  passions  will  not 
let  you.  You  have  not  the  manliness  to  be  one 
or  the  other.  In  the  sight  of  God  you  are  scep- 
tics, for  he  that  is  not  ^yith  Him  is  against  Him ; 
but  in  your  own  estimate  you  are  balancing  be- 
tween the  two,  in  the  hope  that  before  the  end 
comes  you  will  drift  into  the  one  that  is  the 
safest.  Let  it  be  your  determination  to  be  on 
the  Lord's  side ;  you  will  then  have  the  happi- 
ness the  Lord  alone  can  give,  and  you  will  say 
on  a  dying  day,  when  it  is  so  desirable  and  de- 
lightful to  be  able  to  say  it.  It  was  good,  and  it 
is  good,  and  it  ever  will  be  good  for  me  to  draw 
near  unto  God. 


38  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 


n. 


OUR  TATHER. 

«'  After  this  manner  therefore  pray  ye  ;  Our  Father  which  art  in 
heaven." — Matt.  vi.  9. 

This  Prayer  contains  all  that  ever  ascended  to 
God  from  human  hearts  in  any  way  acceptable  to 
Him,  and  all  that  ever  will  descend  from  Him, 
in  the  shape  of  benedictions,  upon  us.  Whatever 
is  included  in  this  Prayer  you  may  ask  ;  what- 
ever is  not  included  in  this  Prayer  it  is  not  expe- 
dient that  you  should  pray  for.  We  have  in 
these  beautiful  words  the  fundamental  notes  of 
the  varied  cry  that  has  risen  from  all  the  broken, 
the  sorrowing,  the  deserted  hearts  of  human  kind, 
from  the  days  of  Adam  to  the  moment  in  which 
we  now  live.  It  is  so  short  that  memory  can 
easily  recollect  it;  so  simple,  that  your  chiklren 
can  be  easily  taught  it ;  so  rich,  so  full,  so  mag- 


L 


OUR  FATHER.  39 

niticeiit,  that  the  ripest  saint  has  not  yet  learned 
to  exhaust  it.  Lest  it  should  be  thought  that 
there  is  any  supernatural  charm  in  the  words, 
our  blessed  Lord  says  in  this  Gospel,  "  After  this 
manner  pray."  Lest,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
should  be  thought  that  the  words  are  of  no 
value,  He  says  in  another  Gospel,  "  When  ye 
pray,  say."  Herein  lies  the  reason  of  the  differ- 
ence of  expression.  Lest  it  should  be  thought 
that  the  words  have  a  mediatorial  virtue,  which 
belongs  only  to  Christ,  we  read  in  one  Gospel, 
"  After  this  manner  pray ;"  but  lest,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  should  be  thought  that  the  words 
are  of  no  peculiar  excellence,  another  Gospel 
contains  the  expression,  "  When  ye  pray,  *«?/." 
Who  does  not  know  that  the  heart  often  needs 
words  to  help  its  outpouring ;  and  no  less  that 
words  need  the  heart's  inspiration  to  give  them 
excellence  or  value  ?  The  words  may  be  desecra- 
ted into  thousands  of  Pater  ISTosters  repeated  by 
the  lips,  without  a  spring  in  the  heart  within ; 
but  the  words  also  may  suggest  many  a  precious 


40  lEACn  us  TO  PRAT. 

tlionglit,  many  a  deep  want,  many  ii  rich  supply, 
that  Christians  feel  they  truly  need.  AVe  are 
sometimes  lame,  and  need  a  crutch  ;  wo  are  some- 
times 80  strong  that  we  can  walk  without  one. 
Many  an  English  Episcopalian  prays  with  a  form 
or  a  liturgy  in  spirit  and  in  truth;  and  many  a 
staunch  Scottish  Presbyterian  prays  extempore  in 
the  most  formal  manner  possible.  The  fact  is,  it 
is  not  outside  or  mechanical  arrangement  that 
can  secure  true  j^rayer ;  it  is  the  inspiration  of 
the  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  ;  and  when 
tlie  heart  within  is  made  right  by  His  grace,  all 
l^rayer  of  all  forms  will  be  in  spirit  and  in  truth, 
and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God. 

In  this  very  beautiful  form  is  the  universal 
Liturgy  of  the  universal  Church ;  a  liturgy  that 
has  no  errors  needing  correction,  no  superfluities 
or  repetitions  that  require  curtailment ;  it  is  per- 
fect in  expression,  infinite  in  comprehension  as 
the  riches  t>f  Him  that  taught  it,  and  the  wants 
of  them  that  need  to  pray  it.  Amid  many  of 
the  cathedrals  of  Europe,  darkened  with  a  dead- 


OUH  FATHER.  41 

ly  superstition,  I  dare  say  tliere  are  some  iin- 
ktiown,  obscure,  and  lonely  worshippers  kneeling 
upon  the  pavements,  that  breathe  these  words 
from  the  very  heart ;  and  in  many  of  our  best 
and  most  enlightened  congregations  I  fear  there 
are  some,  to  speak  in  the  most  charitable  phrase, 
that  use  these  words  as  a  form,  and  many  more 
that  use  them  without  seeing  the  length  and 
breadth,  and  weight  and  worth  of  riches  that  are 
stored  within  them. 

In  this  command  Christ  not  only  teaches  us 
how  to  pray,  which  is  very  important,  but  also 
lays  before  us  the  very  words  in  which  we  should 
pray  ;  that  thus  we  may  by  praying  in  the  words 
which  He  orders,  plead  the  promise  that  He  gives 
that  He  will  hear  us.  He  teaches  us  the  words  in 
order  that  we  may  feel  that  in  seeking  in  spirit 
what  he  has  expressed  for  us  we  shall  not  fail  to 
reap  from  Him  the  fulfilment  of  His  promise, 
that  He  will  open  when  we  knock,  and  give 
when  we  seek. 

I  cannot  help  noticing  the  fact  that  there  seems, 


42  TEACH  US  TO  BRAY. 

from  its  connection  with  our  Lord's  beautiful  edi- 
tion of  the  Law  in  Matt,  v.,  a  reference  through- 
out this  prayer  to  the  Decalogue  given  on  Mount 
Sinai.  The  Law  begins  on  Mount  Sinai  with  the 
words,  "  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God ;  thou  shalt  have 
no  other  gods  before  me."  So  here  the  Prayer 
begins  where  the  exaction  of  the  Law  begins,  not 
with  "  The  Lord  thy  God,"  the  severer  relation- 
ship of  Sinai ;  but  with  "  Our  Father  which  art 
in  heaven,"  the  beautiful  revelation  of  Christiani- 
ty. There  are  also  in  this  Prayer  ten  clauses, 
which  may  be  divided  into  two  great  sections — 
the  first  relating  to  God,  the  second  to  ourselves 
and  our  neighbor ;  the  embodiment  in  the  form- 
ula of  prayer  of  what  is  demanded  in  the  Law, 
"  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  I  have 
thought  too  that  there  is  in  this  Prayer,  as  in  the 
Law,  a  shadow  of  that  great  and  precious,  not 
mere  theoretical,  but  practical,  truth,  the  Trini- 
ty. For  instance,  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other 
gods  before  me,"  the  Father.     "  Thou   shalt   not 


OUR  FATHER.  43 

make  any  likeness  of  me,  but  see  me  only  in  the 
Son,  in  whom  is  my  name.  And  thou  shalt  re- 
member my  Sabbaths,  which  are  the  outward 
signs  of  that  sanctification  of  which  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  inward  Agent."  In  this  beautiful 
prayer,  first  of  all  the  Father's  name  is  invoked, 
"•  hallowed  be  thy  name  ;"  secondly,  the  name  of 
the  Son,  whose  kingdom  we  pray  may  come 
speedily  as  the  kingdom  of  the  Prince  of  peace  ; 
and  thirdly,  the  name  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  through 
that  regeneration  wliich  He  creates,  to  do  the 
will  of  God  on  earth  even  as  it  is  done  in  heaven. 
Grace  germinates  in  hallowing  His  name ;  it  un- 
folds in  the  expansion  of  His  kingdom ;  and, 
lastly,  culminates  and  blossoms  in  His  will  re- 
flected from  the  earth  as  the  perfect  fac-simile 
of  what  it  is,  and  how  it  is  done  in  heaven.  We 
find  in  this  Prayer  the  central  petition,  "  Give 
us  daily  bread ;"  or,  as  the  old  Christians  regard- 
ed it,  Give  us  heavenly  or  supernatural  bread — 
in  order  that  we  may  hallow  Thy  name,  and  pro- 
mote Thy  kingdom,  and  do  Thy  will,   and  be 


1 

44  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

kept  from  temptation  and  delivered  from  all  evil. 
And  3-ou  will  notice  that  the  three  last  clauses 
are  the  echoes  or  the  returns  of  the  tliree  first. — 
"  Forgive  us  our  trespasses  in  not  doing  thy 
will ;  and  the  temptation  which  has  opposed  the 
coming  of  thy  kingdom ;  and  the  evil  which 
prevents,  and  has  prevented,  the  glorifying  of 
thy  name."  And  all  these  three  by  implication 
lead  us  to  Christ,  by  whose  death  our  trespasses 
are  forgiven,  by  whose  resurrection  we  are  sanc- 
tified against  temptation,  by  whose  ascension  we 
are  delivered  from  all  evil.  In  the  first  three 
expressive  clauses  we  have  the  fulness  and  the 
riches  of  God  ;  "Thy  kingdom;  thy  will;  thy 
name."  In  the  three  last  clauses  we  have  the 
emptiness  and  poverty  of  the  creature  ,  "  Give 
us  ;  deliver  us;  lead  us  not ;  forgive  us  our  sins 
as  we  forgive  them  that  sin  against  us."  Thus 
grace  begins  with  all  the  fulness  of  God,  enters 
into  all  the  emptiness  of  the  creature  ;  and  when 
the  goodness  of  God  that  comes  from  Him  has 
overflowed  all  til 0  wants  of  humanity,  and  cov- 


OUR  FA  THER.  45 

ered  the  wide  eartli  with  all  the  splendors  of 
glory,  then  the  whole  returns  to  Him  from  whom 
it  originally  proceeded,  in  the  ascending  incense. 
"  Thine  the  glory,  the  kingdom,  and  the  power 
for  ever  and  for  ever."  Such  are  some  of  the 
precious  truths  latent  in  every  clause  of  this 
most  noble  and  precious  Prayer,  a  Prayer,  the 
more  it  is  studied,  the  more  it  indicates  its  origin 
to  be  the  bosom  of  God. 

Let  us  now  view  the  first  clause  of  it — "  Our 
Father  which  art  in  heaven."  "  I  am  thy  God  " 
is  the  sublime  introduction  to  the  Law.  "  Our 
Father  which  art  in  heaven"  is  the  endearing 
revelation  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  commencement 
of  the  first  prayer  that  we  are  called  upon  here  to 
breathe  from  sanctified  lips.  Our  blessed  Lord  in 
teaching  us  here  is  not  satisfied  with  saying  what 
would  have  been  most  condescending  love,  "You 
may  thus  pray,"  but  He  turns  privilege  into  duty, 
and  saj^s,  "  When  ye  pray,  thus  say."  How  pre- 
cious that  His  precepts  should  be  our  greatest 
privileges ;  and  that  He  takes  what  is  our  noblest 


46  TEACn  us  TO  PRAY. 

honor,  translates  it  into  our  solemn  duty,  and  so 
makes  duty  embosom  joy,  holiness  embosom 
happiness,  and  obedience  to  His  word  become  the 
measure  of  our  enjoyment  upon  earth.  Is  there 
not  something  here  very  precious,  that  the  very 
first  cry  that  an  infant  learns  to  utter,  "  My  fa- 
ther," is  the  first  and  the  last  appeal  that  a  saint 
addresses  to  God ;  "  Our  Father  which  art  in 
heaven  ;"  as  if  God  would  teach  us  that  nature's 
earliest  cry  has  in  it  a  lingering  undertone  of 
Adam's  first  prayer  in  Paradise.  Tour  children, 
as  they  give  expression  to  the  human  relationship, 
remind  vou  that  as  children  by  adoption  of  a  yet 
greater  Father  you  may  still  say,  what  was  first 
and  shall  be  last,  "  Our  Father  which  art  in 
heaven."  Is  there  not  also  a  suggestive  thought 
for  every  parent  in  that  word  "  Father"  ?  "  If  ye," 
fathers,  "  being  evil,  notwithstanding  that  evil, 
know  how  to  give  good  gifts  to  your  children, 
how  much  more  will  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  give  his  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask 
him  ?"     So  that  whenever  you  read  or  pray  this 


OUR  FATHER.  47 

Prayer  you  may  have  this  blessed  thought — that 
all  the  affection  that  I  as  a  parent  feel  to  my 
children,  that  affection,  infinitely  expanded  and 
enlarged,  God  feels  to  me,  and  without  the  draw- 
back of  the  imperfections  and  the  alloy  that  min- 
gle with  my  human  feeling,  and  more  or  less 
debase  every  function  of  the  unsanctified  heart. 
Thus  children  may  learn  to  lisp,  by  extending 
the  experience  of  earth  into  the  confines  of  hea- 
ven, the  petition  "  Our  Father  ;"  thus  parents 
may  learn  how  willing  God  is  to  give  to  them 
the  richest  expressions  of  His  goodness,  by  re- 
membering that  the  fatherhood  of  God  is  their 
own  fatherly  sympathy,  without  its  imperfection 
and  infinitely  enlarged.  Creation  cries  from  all 
its  depths  and  its  heights,  "  Our  Creator  ;"  its 
animal  economy  cries  with  a  constant  appeal, 
•'  Our  Preserver  ;"  but  God's  redeemed  company 
of  them  that  have  washed  their  robes  in  the  pre- 
cious blood  of  the  Lamb,  rise  into  a  nobler  key, 
and  give  expression  to  a  deeper  and  more  joyous 
relationship,  "  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven." 


J 


48  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

We  lost  our  relationsliip  to  God  the  Father  by 
tlie  disruption  of  the  Fall — we  receive  that  rela- 
tionship back  again  through  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Mediator ;  "  for  to  as  many  as  received  him,  to 
them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God." 
I  do  not  know  one  truth  more  distinctive  of  the 
Gospel  than  the  fatherhood  of  God.  The  Jews 
had  but  a  dim,  shadowy  impression  of  it.  The 
Gospel  of  St.  John  has  the  word  "  Father"  ap- 
plied to  God  about  seventy-two  times ;  as  if  it 
was  the  endearing  relationship  that  John  would 
constantly  dwell  on.  And  the  Apostle  Paul  tells 
us,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  that  God  has 
given  us  the  spirit  of  adoption,  whereby  we  cry 
Abba,  Father.  And  we  see  in  this  blessed 
truth,  too,  that  God  is  not  the  Pantheistic 
Being  which  some  believe,  regarding  poor  na- 
ture, so  poor  and  meagre,  as  their  god,  and  wor- 
shipping the  creature  as  if  he  were  the  Creator. 
He  is  a  personal  Being  enthroned  above  all,  but 
accessible  to  the  meanest  and  the  greatest  sinner 
that  seeks  access  to  Him  in  the  name  and  through 


OUR    FATHER  49 

the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ  the  only  Savionr.  In 
this  Prayer  we  have  revealed  to  us  the  glorious 
trutli,  that  while  God  is  King,  Lord,  Sovereign, 
Judge,  all  these  attributes  are  softened  and 
shaded  and  subdued  in  their  transit  to  us  by 
the  blessed  medium  of  fatherhood,  or  His  re- 
lationship to  us  as  a  Father. 

As  we  have  seen  in  the  first  the  fatherhood  of 
God,  we  learn  in  the  second  place  the  brother- 
hood of  all  true  Christians.  He  is  revealed  not 
only  as  the  Father  wlio  is  enthroned  in  the 
heavens,  not  only  as  "  Mij  Father  which  art  in 
heaven,"  but  as  "<9w?'  Fatlier  which  art  in  hea- 
ven." ISTo  sooner  does  the  Christian  heart  feel 
its  individual  relationship  to  GcTd  righted  and  re- 
stored, than  as  tlie  reaction  of  it  it  feels  its  res- 
toration to  all  the  brethren  of  mankind  resusci- 
tated and  revived.  If  we  trace  the  earliest  effects 
of  the  Fall,  we  shall  find  that  Adam  lost  his  Fa- 
ther in  Paradise,  and  showed  his  sense  of  loss  by 
running  from  God  and  trying  to  hide  himself  in 
the  trees  of  the  garden  ;  that,  secondly,  man  lost 


50  TEACH  us  TO  PRAY, 

his  brotherhood  to  all  mankind,  for  Cain  slew 
Ills  brotlier  Abel.  Thus  the  very  first  effects  of 
tlie  Fall  were  man's  loss  of  the  Father  ;  when  in- 
stead of  drawing  near  to  Him  as  a  Father  he 
fled  from  Him  as  a  Judge :  and,  secondly,  man's 
loss  of  brotherhood,  when  Cain  rose  up  and  slew 
his  brother  Abel.  The  very  first  effect  of  Chris- 
tianity is  to  restore  these  two  lost  but  golden 
links  ;  and  hence  we  have  here,  first,  the  father- 
hood of  God,  and,  secondly,  the  brotherhood  of 
all  believers  :  "  Our  Father  which  art  in  hea- 
ven." In  the  first  instance  I  bow  my  knee  and 
say,  interested  in  the  safety  of  my  individual 
soul,  "  My  Father  ;"  but  scarcely  has  my  heart 
unloaded  itself  of  that  precious  thought  than  it 
is  instantly  lost  in  the  yet  nobler  and  broader 
one,  "  Our  Father,  which  art  in  heaven."  Faitli 
in  its  first  pulse  says  "  My  Father  ;"  but  as  it  is 
the  definition  of  faitli,  "  It  worketh  by  love," 
therefore  in  its  second  pulse  it  beats  "  Our  Fa- 
ther." Here  is  a  prayer  that  a  Christian  never 
can  offer  only  for  himself     It  is  so  worded  that 


OUR  FATHER.  51 

the  instant  we  begin  to  pray  for  ourselves,  there 
runs  through  it  intercession  for  all  our  brethren 
of  mankind  ;  "  Our  Father,  give  us  daily  bread  ; 
forgive  us  our  sins."  By  a  beautiful  law  the 
Christian's  closet  widens  in  the  family,  the  family 
widens  into  the  congregation,  the  congregation 
into  the  church,  the  church  into  the  catliolic 
company  of  all  that  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  are  the  children  of  God  by  true  and  real 
adoption.  All  sectarian,  selfish,  individual,  let 
us  add  provincial,  denominational,  national  feel- 
ing, is  merged  and  overflowed  by  the  warm  and 
the  genial  love  that  sees  in  heaven  our  Father, 
and  in  all  that  worship  Him  in  sincerity  and 
truth  brethren  we  love  and  worship  with  on 
earth,  and  shall  worship  with  in  heaven  here- 
after. If  we  could  pray  more  feelingly,  with  a 
deeper  sense  of  what  the  expression  "  Our  Fa- 
ther "  conveys,  there  would  be  less  of  that  nar- 
row, limited,  sectarian  feeling,  which  is  not  the 
monopoly  of  a  sect,  but  unhappily  the  besetting 
sin  of  all  mankind.   There  is  no  doubt  that  some 


52  *  TEACH  US  TO  FRAY. 

are  praying  this  prayer  when  we  think  there  are 
none  ;  and  that  many  are  muttering  it  witli  e\o- 
qnent  lips,  who  never  yet  have  learned  to  pray 
it  at  all.  And  what  a  solemn  thought  that 
some  poor,  lowly,  unknown  ones  in  the  depths 
of  the  Western  Apostasy  at  this  hour  thus  pray 
with  us.  Many  an  inhabitant  in  Lucknow,  in 
Petersburg,  in  Paris,  may  be  at  this  moment 
saying  with  us,  "  Our  Father."  Methinks,  if 
this  thrilling  thought  could  only  pervade  the 
hearts  of  all  mankind,  wars  would  cease  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  and  the  spear  be  turned  into 
the  pruning-hook,  and  the  sword  into  the  plough- 
share. At  all  events  the  fact  that  there  is  no 
Christian  upon  earth  who  does  not  say  this 
prayer,  "  Our  Father,"  seems  to  indicate  the  im- 
possibility of  a  total  dislocation  of  humanity,  or 
of  an  antagonism  so  lasting  that  it  cannot  be 
healed.  We  know  at  all  events  that  wars  will 
not  cease  among  the  nations  till  all  men  liave 
been  taught  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  say  "  Onr 
Father."     It  is  only  in  the  liglit  of  religion  that 


OUR    FATHER.  53 

society  can  be  permanently  ameliorated;  it  is 
only  in  the  light  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  that 
all  hearts  will  reciprocate  the  brotherhood  of  all 
mankind.  Hence  revolutions  begin  from  below 
and  spring  from  beneath  ;  reformations  originate 
from  above  and  spread  below.  We  must  begin 
with  Our  Father  in  heaven  in  order  to  see  our 
brethren  upon  earth ;  and  when  we  can  thus  be- 
gin, we  may  be  sure  that  we  shall  not  end  until 
the  whole  earth  be  filled  and  covered  with  the 
glory  of  the  fatherhood  of  God,  and  all  mankind 
as  brethren,  in  the  grand  words  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse, sing,  "Salvation  and  glory  and  honor  and 
blessing  unto  our  God  and  to  the  Lamb  forever 
and  forever." 

We  come  now  to  the  third  thought  contained 
in  this  beautiful  clause,  "  in  heaven."  First  we 
have  studied  the  nature  of  the  Prayer  by  way 
of  prefatory  remark ;  next  we  have  seen  its  dis- 
tinctive revelation  of  the  fatherhood  of  God ; 
next  the  brotherhood  of  all  believers;  and  now 
let  us  lift  up  our  hearts  to  the  home  of  all  that 


54  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

happy  brotherhood — "in  heaven."  "Our  Fa- 
ther which  art  in  heaven."  Heaven  was  the 
point  of  our  departure  from  God  ;  heaven  is  the 
point  at  which  our  return  terminates.  The 
prodigal  son  left  his  father's  liouse  ;  spent  his 
substance  in  riotous  living ;  repented,  was  re- 
stored, and  reinstated  in  his  father's  house  again. 
We  prodigal  sons  left  our  Father's  home  ;  we 
spent  all  we  had  in  riotous  living  and  in  estrange- 
ment from  Him  ;  we  are  brought  to  repentance  ; 
we  return  and  find  in  our  Father's  long  forsaken 
abode  Paradise  restored  and  ourselves  at  home 
again.  ISTow  this  interesting  thought,  that  our 
Father  is  in  heaven,  reveals  to  us  first  of  all, 
God's  supremacy,  sovereignty,  and  therefore 
ability  to  see  and  to  supply  all  the  wants  of  llis 
repentant  family.  God  sits  on  the  circle  of 
the  heavens,  and  sees  the  least  as  well  as  the 
greatest  of  mankind.  The  common  notion,  is 
that  God  is  so  great  and  magnificent  a  being 
that  we  cannot  conceive  that  He  will  c^»ncern 
Himself  with  such  tiny  ephemeral  things  as  men 


OUR  FATHER.  55 

are,  or  with  such  small  things  as  the  wants  of  a 
widow  and  the  sighs  of  an  orphan.     But  I  need 
not  tell  you  that  God  revealed  in  the  mysteries 
of  the  microscope,  appears  grander  to  our  sight 
than  God  revealed  by  the  telescope.     We  natu- 
rally think  that  what  is  materially  great  is  most 
magnificent :    it  is  not  necessarily  so.     There  is 
more  of  God's  wisdom  in  weaving  the  exquisite 
texture   of  a   bee's  wing  than   in  creating  the 
countless  orbs  that  like  the  sentinels  of  a  mighty 
host  lie  upon  the  confines  of  infinitude.     If  we 
take  the  petal  of  the  rose,  bursting  into  full  ma- 
turity in  June,  it  seems  as  if  he  had  nothing  else 
in  the  universe  to  do  but  to  paint  that  exquisite 
petal,     lie  seems  so  concerned  with  each  tiny- 
thing,  that  you  are  tempted  to  infer   that   His 
whole  skill,  resources,  beneficence,  power,  were 
exhausted  in  adorning  it.     This  conveys  to  us 
this  most  precious  thought,  that  God  is  as  deeply 
concerned  in  my  least  want,  my  lowliest  sorrow, 
my  least  personal  care,   and  in  providing  for  it, 
as  if  He  had  nothing  else  to  do  in  the  boundless 


56  TEACH  US  TO  riilY. 

universe  save  to  take  care  of  me  aud  my  soul. 
"Wliat  a  blessed  thought  that  God  is  as  near  to  me, 
as  deeply  concerned  about  me,  that  He  has  ex- 
pended as  much  of  redeeming  love  upon  me,  as  if 
He  had  nothing  else  to  do  but  to  save  me.  Kead 
the  Bible  often  and  yon  will  see  how  frequent  is, 
if  I  may  use  the  word,  its  egotism.  '*  Thou  God 
seest,"  not  us,  but  "  me.''''  "  "What  must  /  do  to 
be  saved  ?"  "  Believe  thou.""  "  Whom  have  I  in 
heaven  but  thee?  and  there  is  none  upon  the 
earth  that  I  desire  beside  thee."  "  Thou  knowest 
my  sitting  down  and  my  rising  up  ;  thou  knowest 
my  thoughts  afar  off."  I  think  that  is  one  of 
the  most  magnificent  expressions  in  the  Psalms, 
"  my  thoughts  afar  off."  Before  a  man  clearly 
comprehends  a  thing,  while  the  thought  is  loom- 
ing, misty  and  shadowy,  upon  the  edge  of  the 
distant  horizon  of  his  mind,  even  then  God  sees 
it,  knows  it,  estimates  its  issue,  and  comprehends 
its  whole  character.  This  God,  our  Father, 
is  sitting  on  the  circle  of  the  heavens,  looking 
down,  acquainted  with,  inspecting,  providing  for, 


OUR  FATHER.  57 

syrapatliizing  witli  the  least  of  His  family,  as 
truly  as  with  the  greatest  creature  that  surrounds 
His  throne  and  worships  continually  before  Him. 
Blessed  thought,  that  we  can  say  "  my  Father" 
first,  but  may  not  stop  there,  but  must  proceed  to 
"Our  Father;"  and  that  this  our  Father  is  in 
heaven,  seeing,  inspecting,  sympathizing  with, 
and  providing  for  all ;  and  that  heaven,  wherever 
it  may  be,  in  which  He  is,  is  the  home  to  which 
we  are  all  tending.  That  one  expression,  "  Our 
Father  in  heaven,"  makes  it  home  ;  it  is  that  one 
word  that  gives  the  future  its  homelike  aspect, 
and  teaches  me  this  blessed  truth,  that  when  I 
shall  appear  there,  after  I  have  laid  aside  this 
mortal  and  left  it  in  the  grave  to  be  prepared 
for  the  resurrection  morn,  I  shall  enter  into  no 
strange  land  or  distant  colony  ;  here  is  the  island 
of  my  exile,  there  is  the  home  where  I  shall  be 
for  ever  with  my  Father,  and  our  Father,  and 
all  that  have  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus,  and  are 
worshipping  before  the  throne  and  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  for  ever.  We 
3^ 


58  TEACH  US  TO   PRAF. 

all  shrink  from  death  ;  and  surely  death  is  a  most 
unnatural  thing ;  it  is  of  all  things  the  most  un- 
natuial,  the  most  horrible,  that  this  exquisite  or- 
ganization should  like  Abraham's  Sarah  be  buried 
out  of  sight ;  the  nearest,  the  dearest,    and   the 
best  beloved  not   venturing  to  gaze   at  it   any 
more.     That  is  not  natural ;  God  never  made  me 
to  die  ;  God  never  made  me  to  have  a  head-ache, 
or  a  heart-ache,  or  a  grey  hair,  or  a  wrinkle  up- 
on the  brow ;  these  things  are  not  original,  they 
are  suj)erinduced  by  sin.     And  what  makes  us 
brave  death  is  not  that  we  love  life  less,  is  not 
that  we  love  death  more  ;  but  that  we  see  in  the 
grave  the  vestibule  only  of  the  everlasting  home, 
and    that   when    we    descend   into    its    deepest 
depths  it  is  only  to  begin  the  ascent  to  that  sunny 
table-land  where  is  the  presence  of  our  Father, 
and    of    all   that    have   preceded   us   to   glory. 
Hence   the    very    expression,    "  Our   Father   in 
heaven,"  is  the  evidence  that  heaven  is  our  ever- 
lasting and  our  happy  home. 

Now  these  three  heads — Father,   Our  Father, 


OUR  FATHER.  59 

in  heaven — are  just  the  three  thoughts  grasped 
bj  what  the  Apostle  calls  faith,  hope,  and  charity, 
or  love.  Faith  pierces  the  skies  and  sees  a  Fa- 
ther ;  faith  developes  itself  in  love  ;  and  love  looks 
over  and  abroad  the  earth  and  says,  while  reci- 
procating feelings  of  love  with  all  mankind, 
"  Our  Father  ;"  and  faith  and  love  are  the  nu- 
triment of  hope,  that  unfurls  its  wings  and  pierces 
the  sky,  and  sees  our  Father  in  heaven ;  our 
future,  our  eternal,  and  certain  home.  Thus 
from  this  great  thought,  from  this  precious  com- 
munion, the  scepticism  that  disbelieves,  the  self- 
ishness that  monopolizes,  the  despair  that  com- 
mits suicide,  are  lost  in  faith,  in  love,  in  hope. 
"  Love  never  fails.  Whether  there  be  prophecies 
they  shall  fail " — although  let  me  add  that  word 
"  fail  "  is  wrong.  The  Greek  word  there  trans- 
lated "  fail  "  means  "  cease."  It  ought  to  be 
translated,  "  Love  never  fails.  Whether  there  be 
prophecies  they  shall  be  worked  out  to  fulfil- 
ment ;  whether  there  be  tongues  they  shall  cease  ; 
whether    there    be   knowledge    it   shall    vanish 


60  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

away."  Tongues  as  at  Pentecost  are  gone ; 
knowledge  as  inspired  is  gone  ;  works  as  miracu- 
lous are  gone  ;  but  love,  wliicli  begins  in  faith  in 
the  fatherhood  of  God,  grows  in  the  atmosphere 
of  love  to  Him  and  to  all  brethren  in  Him,  ends 
and  blossoms  for  ever  and  ever  in  the  Paradise  of 
our  God  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Lamb.  What 
a  precious  clause  !  Have  we  ever  thus  regarded 
it  ?  have  we  ever  seen  and  drunk  of  those  sweet 
springs  tliat  are  in  it  ?  If  w^e  believe  these 
things,  (and  I  need  no  external  proof  to  convince 
me  that  this  Prayer  was  taught  by  God  ;  none 
but  infinite  wisdom,  infinite  love,  could  ever 
have  taught  such  a  prayer  ;  I  need  no  arguments, 
I  need  no  mii-acles,  to  convince  me  this  is  divine  ; 
I  need  only  to  study  this  blessed  book.  I  find 
in  it  depths  that  we  have  never  yet  sounded, — 
lights  that  have  not  yet  leaped  forth  from  its 
shadows, — evidences  of  inspiration,  so  strong, 
irresistible,  and  manifold,  that  the  man  is  a  fool 
that  says  the  Bible  is  not  the  Word  of  God, — )  if 
we  believe  that  God  is  our   Father   in    heaven, 


OUR  FATHER.  Q\ 

our  everlasting  home,  then  what  encouragement 
have  we  in  prayer !  Do  we  not  often  when  we 
pray  go  into  God's  presence  hesitating,  shrink- 
ing, alarmed  ?  and  is  it  not  too  true  that  almost 
all  liturgies,  however  excellent,  have  in  them 
too  much  of  the  deprecating  and  the  terrible  ;  of 
fear,  of  alarm,  of  dread  ?  But  should  not  the 
feeling  with  which  we  ought  to  go  into  God's 
presence  be,  certainly  not  that  of  presumption, 
but  that  with  which  an  infant  leaps  into  the 
bosom  of  its  mother,  or  a  child  goes  into  the  pre- 
sence of  its  father?  And,  therefore,  we  are  not, 
when  we  pray  as  Christians,  to  deprecate  God's 
wrath  as  if  we  were  criminals  in  the  dock,  but 
to  ask  a  Father's  blessing,  as  children  of  our 
Father  which  art  in  heaven. 

What  comfort  have  we  here  in  the  conviction 
of  sin  !  We  know  there  are  times  when  a  mys- 
terious breath  sweeps  through  the  soul,  and 
awakens  in  conscience  presentiments,  convic- 
tions, that  will  not  be  laid.  In  that  moment, 
when  we  see  what  sin  is,  in  the  light  of  that 


62  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

Lamb  whose  blood  can  wash  it  away,  how  pre- 
cious is  this  thonglit ;  "  I  will  arise,  and  go" — 
where  ? — "  to  my  Father."  "  I  will  arise  and 
say,  '  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven.'  "  And 
"as  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  doth  the 
Lord  pity  them."  If  this  be  true  that  God  is  our 
Father,  Mdiat  comfort  in  affliction !  My  amaze- 
ment is  not  that  the  natural  and  the  unsanctified 
man  rushes  to  the  judgment-seat  unsent ;  but 
how  men  can  stand  the  shocks,  tribulations, 
losses,  bereavements,  pains,  and  agonies  of  this 
present  world  without  helps  from  heaven  to  sus- 
tain and  comfort  them.  As  long  as  I  am  not  a 
child  of  God,  as  long  as  I  am  not  a  believer  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  so  long  all  things  that 
betide  me  are  penal,  the  inflictions  of  an  angry 
judge.  But  the  instant  that  my  heart  is  chang- 
ed, and  my  standing  is  transferred,  and  I  am 
made  b}'^  adoption  a  son  of  God,  then,  instead  of 
being  penal,  everything  is  paternal,  for  it  comes 
from  our  Father.  Instead  of  being  punishment, 
the  bitterest  and  the  severest  blow  is  only  the 


OUR  FATHER.  63 

chastening  of  onr  Father's  hand.  Here  too  lies 
the  difference  between  the  reasoning  of  the 
Christian  and  that  of  the  world,  A  mere  worldly 
man  argues  thus  :  "  I  have  lost  all  my  property  ; 
God  has  taken  it.  I  have  lost  my  children  ;  God 
has  taken  them.  I  have  lost  my  health;  God 
also  hath  taken  it :  therefore  God  is  angry  with 
me,  and  is  working  against  me,  and  is  ready  to 
consume  me."  Such  is  the  reasoning  of  the 
world.  But  a  Christian  says,  "  God  is  my 
Father ;  therefore  He  has  taken  these  children  to 
His  own  bosom  ;  therefore  He  has  taken  away 
that  wealth  which  was  taking  His  place  ;  therefore 
He  has  removed  that  health  which  was  standing 
between  me  and  heaven."  The  worldly  man 
reasons  from  nature  up  to  what  God  is,  and  ar- 
rives at  the  conclusion  that  God  is  angry  :  the 
Christian  reasons  from  what  God  is — our  Father 
— down  to  nature ;  and  therefore  feels  that  all 
things  under  His  imj^ress  work  together  for  good 
to  them  that  love  Him. 

Christianity  is  a  happy  religion.     The  Christian 


Q4,  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

alone  can  be  happy,  he  alone  must  be  happy ;  of 
all  men  npon  earth  he  is  summoned  to  "  rejoice, 
and  again  rejoice !" 

AVhat  brilliant  hope  have  we  !  When  all  the 
storms  of  this  present  world  are  lulled  ;  when 
all  its  trials,  its  fears,  and  its  griefs  are  over,—  and 
very  soon  they  will  be  over,  for  every  year  seems 
as  we  grow  older  to  run  away  faster  ;  and  the  very 
world  itself  in  which  we  live  as  it  nears  to  its 
close  seems  to  revolve  with  accelerated  speed, — 
when  this  life  of  ours,  that  seems  for  its  shortness 
like  a  bubble  upon  the  waters,  is  finished,  we 
alone  may  begin  to  sing  in  our  last  moments, 
"  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  therefore  our  Father ;  who  hath 
begotten  us  again  to  a  living  hope  through  the 
resurrection  of  Christ  from  the  dead."  And  if 
He  be  our  Father  and  we  be  Plis  sons,  then  we 
are  heirs,  heirs  of  God  and  joint-heirs  with  Christ. 
A  Christian  may  not  have  sixpence  in  possession, 
but  he  has  unsearchable  riches  in  reversion.  He 
may  not  have  an  acre  upon  earth  he  can  call  his 


OUR  FATHER.  65 

own  ;  but  he  lias  the  wide  walk  of  heaven  for 
ever  and  for  ever. 

Let  us  learn  from  all  this  what  a  motive  we 
have  here  to  obedience.  "We  are  not  called  to 
obey  Pharaoh,  a  hard  task-master  in  this  world, 
but  to  serve  our  Father.  The  service  of  the 
law  for  reward  is  the  service  of  a  slave,  ever 
wretched,  ever  miserable,  ever  incomplete :  the 
service  of  a  son  is  joyous,  because  his  Father's 
yoke  is  easy  and  His  commandments  never  griev- 
ous. What  a  basis  for  increased  love  and 
charity  amid  all  the  members  of  the  Church  of 
Christ !  If  there  should  be  in  this  dispens- 
ation, what  I  fear  there  will  not  be,  the  thorough 
outward  and  visible  union  and  communion  of 
all  the  people  of  God  ;  if  there  should  arrive 
a  day  when  we  shall  only  be  rivals  in  doing 
the  greatest  good,  and  agree  to  differ  upon  those 
things  upon  which  we  shall  probably  never  here 
or  hereafter  absolutely  agree,  for  such  uniform- 
ity and  monotony  would  not  be  the  highest 
excellence  ;  if  ever  all  the  people  of  God  should 


66  2 EACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

feel,  in  the  beautiful  language  of  John,  that 
there  are  many  folds  but  there  is  but  one  Shep- 
herd ;  if  ever  holy  catholic  feeling  should  be 
a  resplendent  and  universal  reality ;  then  the 
doom  of  Babylon,  the  decay  of  Mahometanism, 
the  commencement  of  the  dawn  of  millennial 
glory,  would  be  at  our  doors.  Such  results  are, 
in  the  page  of  prophecy,  either  in  this  or  in  the 
next  dispensation,  sure  of  coming  to  pass.  In 
the  mean  time,  if  we  only  think  that  we  are 
children  of  the  same  Father,  it  will  matter  little 
that  one  wears  a  surplice  and  another  a  silk 
gown ;  that  one  worships  with  a  liturgy  and 
another  without  it;  that  one  believes  in  Pres- 
bytery and  another  in  Episcopacy.  All  eccle- 
siastical systems  are  just  like  Railway  Com- 
mittees, provisional  only  while  this  dispensation 
lasts  ;  waiting  till  the  true  and  Divine  Church 
comes  down  from  heaven  like  a  bride  adorned 
for  the  bridegroom,  inwardly  all  holy,  and  out- 
wardly all  beauty ;  and  when  that  which  is 
perfect  is  come  that  which  is   provisional   will 


OUR   FATHER.  67 

be  all  done  away.  All  our  Churclies  are  about 
to  be  broken  up,— Church  Established,  and 
Church  Dissenting,— but  Christ's  Church  is  never 
to  be  broken  up.  When  the  earthen  vessel  is 
broken  the  inner  treasure  will  circulate  the 
more;  when  the  ship  is  broken  on  the  rocks 
the  crew  will  all  be  saved.  And  at  all  events 
wc  shall  be  taught  this  lesson— a  lesson  that 
Paul  taught  the  Corinthians,  and  that  many 
afflictions  have  not  yet  served  sufficiently  to 
teach  us,—"  Who  is  Paul,  who  is  Apollos,  who 
is  Cephas  ;  who  is  Luther,  who  is  Cranmer,  who 
is  Knox;  but  mere  ministers  or  servants  by 
whom  ye  believe  ?"  Christ  alone  remains  all 
and  in  all. 

«*  My  Father's  house  on  liigb, 

Home  of  my  soul,  how  near 
At  times  to  faith's  far-seeing  eye 

Thy  golden  gates  appear ! 

Here  in  the  body  pent, 

Absent  from  Him  I  roam. 
Yet  nightly  pitch  my  moving  tent 

A  day's  march  nearer  home." 


68  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 


m. 


THE  ADORING  WORSEXPPEB. 
"  Hallowed  be  thy  name." — ^Matt.  y1.  9. 

I  ENDEAVORED  in  the  last  chapter,  on  the  words 
"  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven,"  to  show  the 
great  beauty,  comprehensiveness,  and  grandeur 
of  this  simple  but  sublime  Prayer,  commonly 
called  the  Lord's  Prayer.  I  noticed  in  my  intro- 
ductory remarks,  that  lest  it  should  be  supposed 
that  there  is  a  charm  in  the  very  words,  it  is 
said,  "  After  tliis  manner  pray  ;"  but  in  another 
Gospel,  lest  it  should  be  thought  that  we  cannot 
pray  without  the  use  of  these  words,  it  is  written, 
"  When  ye  pray  say  /"  teaching  us  that  the  first 
thing  we  are  to  regard  is  the  spirit  and  the 
meaning  of  these  words ;  and  the  next,  and  by 
no  means  the  insignificant  thing,  is  the  use  of 


THE  ADORiyO  WORSHIPPER.  gg 

the  simple  but  beautiful  words  themselves.  I 
noticed  also  how  this  Prayer  contrasts  with 
almost  every  human  prayer ;  we  have  here 
words  so  simple  that  a  child  can  learn  and 
understand  them ;  and  yet  in  their  significance 
80  far-reaching  and  sublime  that  the  most  expe- 
rienced saint  still  falls  back  upon  them.  I 
noticed  too  the  very  interesting  fact  that  the 
spirit  of  prayer  is  not,  such  as  some  are  tempted 
often  to  feel,  to  approach  God  as  a  guilty  crimi- 
nal approaches  a  judge  to  deprecate  his  wrath  ; 
but  as  a  child,  a  sinful  child  it  is  true,  but 
a  child  still,  approaches  a  parent,  to  ask  his 
forgiveness  and  his  blessing.  There  is  in  all 
our  prayers  in  private,  or  in  the  family,  or 
in  the  sanctuary,  too  much  of  the  deprecatory, 
too  little  of  the  filial,  the  confidential,  the  trust- 
ful. And  therefore  this  Prayer  begins  with 
what  is  the  key-note  of  the  whole  ;  "  Our  Father 
which  art  in  heaven;"  "  Our  Father,  hallowed 
be  thy  name ;"  "  Our  Father,  tli}'-  kingdom 
come ;"    "  Our  Father,    give   us,   thy   children. 


70  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

daily  bread."  I  noticed  the  other  interesting 
thought,  that  the  great  revelation  of  Christianity 
is  what  I  called  the  fatherhood  of  God  ;  and  the 
second  is  the  brotherhood  of  all  true  Christians. 
The  prayer  here  is  not  "J/?/  Father,"  as  man 
would  selfishly  utter  it;"  but  "  Our  Father;"  in 
order  that  the  feeling  of  the  brotherhood  of  all 
may  go  with  you  to  the  throne  of  grace.  I  noticed 
that  you  have  in  this  Prayer  just  the  restoration 
of  what  we  lost  in  Paradise.  What  did  we  lose 
there?  When  man  fell,  the  first  thing  he  lost  was 
a  sense  of  God  as  his  Father ;  and  the  second 
thing  he  lost  was  the  feeling  of  man  as  his  broth- 
er ;  for  when  Adam  sinned  he  ran  and  hid  him- 
self, and  said  he  was  afraid — no  more  the  child 
trusting  in  a  Father,  but  the  refugee  running 
from  one  he  believed  to  be  an  angrj'  Judge. 
The  next  thing  was,  "  And  Cain  rose  up  and  slew 
his  brother  Abel."  The  second  great  loss  of  man, 
after  that  of  God  as  his  Father,  is  that  of  aifection 
to  his  fellow-man  as  his  brother.  IS'ow  in  this 
Prayer  God  is  re-introduced  through  the  Atone- 


THE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  ij-^ 

ment  as  Father ;  man  is  re-introduced  as  brother ; 
and  therefore,  not  satisiied  with  saying  "  Father," 
nor  with  saying  "  My  Father,"  we  rise  to  a  loftier 
pitch  and  give  utterance  to  a  more  catholic  peti- 
tion, and  we  say,  "  Our  Father."  I  noticed  also 
that  we  have  here  not  only  God  our  Father, 
man  our  brother,  but  heaven  our  home.  We 
lift  our  eyes  to  the  home  where  God  is.  What 
constitutes  a  home  ?  A  parent.  Our  Father  is 
in  heaven,  and  to  Him  in  common  with  all 
Christians  we  lift  our  eyes  and  anticipate  our 
last  and  happy  home,  which  Jesus  has  gone  to 
inlay  with  His  presence.  "  Let  not  your  hearts 
be  troubled — ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in 
me.  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you  ;  and  I  will 
come  again  and  receive  you  to  myself,  that 
where  I  am  there  ye  may  be  also." 

Having  thus  given  a  sort  of  rhmiie  of  what  I 
said  before,  let  me  now  direct  your  attention  to 
the  second  clause,  strictly  and  properly  the  first 
petition  in  this  comprehensive  Prayer.  It  is,  "Let 
thy  name  be  hallowed."  At  Athens  no  name  was 


__l 


72  TEACH  us   TO  PRAY. 

found  for  the  unknown  God.  To  us  it  is  revealed 
ill  letters  of  light.  His  name  is  the  aggregate  of 
Ilis  excellences.  Tehovah  Eophi,  the  Lord  that 
healeth  thee.  Tehovah  tzidkenu,  the  Lord  our 
Rio-hteousness.  Yehovah  Shammah,  the  Lord  is 
there.  Yehovah  Jireh,  the  Lord  will  provide. 
It  is  enunciated  in  Exodus  xxxiv.,  "  The  Lord,  the 
Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  longsuffering, 
abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,  keeping  mercy 
for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity,  transgression, 
and  sin."  This  name  is  legible  in  Scripture  from 
Genesis  to  the  Apocalypse.  They  that  fear  the 
Lord  think  upon  His  name,  that  is — the  name  of 
our  Father.  Where  do  we  find  it?  Our  very 
baptism  should  ever  bring  up  before  us  the  rec- 
ollection and  the  sense  of  that  grand  name ;  for 
we  are  baptized  not  in  the  names,  as  if  there 
were  Three  Persons,  but  in  the  name — the  singu- 
lar number — of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. — 
But  if  we  wish  to  see  that  name,  and  each  sylla- 
ble of  that  name,  in  all  its  beauty,  we  refer  to  Ex. 
xxxiv.  5,  where  we  are  told,  "  And  the  Lord  de- 


THE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  73 

scended  in  the  cloud,  and  stood  with  him  there, 
and  proclaimed  the  name  of  the  Lord."  Kow 
here  is  tlie  name  that  we  wish  to  be  hallowed — 
"  The  Lord,  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and  gra- 
cious, longsuffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness 
and  truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands,  forgiv- 
ing iniquity  and  transgression  and  sin."  What 
a  magnificent  name  !  It  is  an  answer  to  the  ob- 
jections  of  every  poor,  depressed,  downcast  sin- 
ner. Are  you  poor,  blind,  miserable,  ignorant, 
and  have  nothing  ?  He  is  the  Lord  the  Creator. 
Have  you  a  heart  very  wicked,  very  depraved  ? 
He  is  the  Lord  God ;  the  strong,  the  omnipotent 
God ;  able  to  change  it.  Do  you  say.  But  I  am 
a  sinner,  and  how  can  I  deal  with  him  ?  He  is 
merciful.  Do  you  say,  "  But  I  can  offer  Him 
nothing  for  his  mercy  V  It  is  added,  He  is  gra- 
cious— that  is,  He  gives  His  mercies  gratis.  Do 
you  object,  "But  I  have  sinned  for  many  years, 
ann  lived  thoughtlessly  and  without  Him  ?"  He 
is  "  longsuffering."  Do  you  say,  you  have 
drawn  upon  His  mercy  so   often   that   you    are 


74  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

afraid  He  ^v  ill  give  you  no  more  ?  He  is  "  abun- 
dant in  goodness  and  truth."  Do  you  add, 
however,  still  that  you  are  afraid  that  as  nearly 
six  thousand  years  have  elapsed,  and  so  many 
have  drawn  upon  Him,  that  He  must  at  last  be 
exhausted  of  all  His  mercy  ?  The  answer  is,  He 
keeps  mercy  for  thousands  of  generations — for 
that  is  the  meaning,  not  thousands  of  persons  but 
thousands  of  generations.  But  do  you  say,  "  I 
have  committed  all  sorts"  of  sin  ?"  If  you  are 
heartily  sorrowful  for  it,  and  desire  to  abjure  it, 
blessed  thought  I  God  forgives  all  sorts  of  sin  ; — 
forgiving  "  iniquity" — that  is  one  sort ;  "  trans- 
gresion" — that  is  a  second  sort ;  "  and  sin" — that 
is  the  third  and  last  sort.  But  do  you  say,  "  If 
men  believe  this  they  will  be  sure  to  plunge  in- 
to all  sorts  of  wickedness?"  Surely  human  na- 
ture is  not  so  base  as  to  make  the  very  exuber- 
ance of  God's  goodness  a  reason  for  living  in 
profligacy.  On  the  contrary,  so  sanctifying  is 
this  that  God  at  the  same  time  "  will  by  no 
means  clear  the  guilty."     We   here   pray  that 


THE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  75 

this  name,  each  syllable  of  which  is  a  text  full  of 
precious  thought,  maj  be  hallowed.  Dumb  na- 
ture, the  creation  the  animals,  the  irrational  ani- 
malt,  glorifj  Him ;  but  it  is  the  rational,  re- 
deemed, intelligent  family  that  hallow  or  sanctify 
God's  name.  God's  name  is  just  Himself ;  the 
word  "  name"  in  fact  is  constantly  employed  in 
Scripture  for  a  person.  For  instance  it  is  said, 
"  Thou  hast  a  few  names  in  Sardis  which  have 
not  denied  me."  And  again,  we  speak  of  a  per- 
son as  having  a  great  name ;  that  is,  being  dis- 
tinguished for  genius,  or  talent,  or  power  in  some 
department  of  life.  Now  God's  name  here  is  just 
Himself;  and  when  we  pray  that  His  name  may 
be  hallowed  we  pray  that  we  and  all  living  men, 
and  the  whole  brotherhood  of  the  Christian 
Church,  and  the  whole  race  that  He  has  made, 
may  one  day  in  their  hearts,  in  their  hopes,  in 
tlieir  faith,  in  their  lives,  in  all  they  are  and  in 
all  they  do,  sanctify,  adorn,  trust  in,  praise, 
worship,  that  great  and  blessed  name. 

Having  begun  this  prayer  with  the  filial  ex- 


Y6  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

pression  of  confidence,  "  Our  Father,"  we  may 
expect  tliat  the  very  first  question  that  our  Fa- 
ther will  ask  of  His  children  will  be,  "  If  I  am  a 
Father,  then  where  is  mine  honor?"  AVhen  we 
begin  this  Prayer  with  the  filial  expression,  "  Our 
Father,"  so  far  is  it  from  making  iis  presume  ir- 
reverently npon  His  relationship  to  us,  that  we 
give  expression  in  the  very  next  breath  to  the 
words  "  Hallowed  be  thy  name."  In  fact,  be- 
gin with  hallowing  the  name  of  God,  and  you 
begin  wrong  ;  begin  with  expressing  your  rela- 
tionship as  sons  to  God,  and  you  will  go  from 
loving  Him  to  reverence,  and  so  glorify  and 
sanctify  Him.  We  begin  with  the  expression 
of  filial  confidence,  "  Our  Father  ;"  we  proceed 
with  all  the  reverence  and  the  homage  that  a 
creature  owes  to  the  Great  Creator,  and  we  say, 
"  May  we  never  in  thinking  of  Thee  as  our  Fa- 
ther forget  tliat  Thou  art  also  our  God.  May 
we  never  as  sons  so  far  trespass  on  Tliy  aftection 
as   to   forget  that  Thou  art  the  High  and  the 


THE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  Y7 

Miglity  One  whose  name  is  Holy,  Holy,  Holy, 
the  Lord  God  of  hosts." 

In  illustrating  this  clause  of  the  prayer  let  us 
look  at  it  first  in  reference  to  creation  ;  secondly, 
in  reference  to  history,  or  God's  providential 
work  in  the  world ;  and  thirdly,  in  reference  to 
the  visible  Church,  into  which  we  are  baptized  ; 
and  lastly,  in  relation  to  our  own  personal  and 
individual  hearts.  Let  us  examine  it  first  of  all 
in  reference  to  creation.  After  man  had  lost  the 
fatherhood  of  God,  he  made  an  attempt  to  de- 
throne God,  to  erase  His  name  from  every  nook 
and  quarter  of  the  habitable  globe,  and  to  in- 
scribe his  own  name  upon  stone  and  star,  upon 
tree,  and  fruit  and  flower  ;  taking  from  God  his 
glory,  and  appropriating  to  himself  what  he  had 
thus  stolen  from  God.  And  still,  if  you  trace 
the  influence  of  this  feeling  throughout  the 
world,  you  will  flnd  that  in  the  schools  of 
science,  in  the  vocabulary  of  the  learned,  this 
very  name,  this  divine  presence,  instead  of  being 
liallowed,  is  covered  with  inscriptions  that  tend, 


78  TEACH  us  TO  PRAY. 

if  not  to  erase,  at  least  to  obscure  it.  AYe  speak 
for  instance  of  nature  as  if  it  were  a  living  crea- 
ture, and  make  it  a  substitute  for  Him  whose 
Spirit  inspires  it.  We  speak  of  the  laws  of  nature, 
instead  of  calling  them,  as  we  ought  to  do,  the  pro- 
visions of  God.  We  say  it  is  a  law  of  nature  the 
sun  rises.  It  is  really  the  decree  of  God.  We  speak 
of  the  fixity  of  these  laws,  as  if  God  had  left  the 
creation  to  itself,  and  retired  from  ruling  it,  or 
handed  it  over  to  material  phenomena  ;  as  if  in 
addition  to  its  being  fallen  it  were  finally  forsa- 
ken. The  truth  is,  what  we  call  a  law  of  nature 
is  in  Christian  phrase  an  impulse  of  the  finger 
of  God  ;  and  what  we  pronounce  to  be  a  property 
in  matter  is  simply  a  volition  on  the  part  of  God. 
The  gravitation  of  water,  the  attraction  and  re- 
pulsion of  the  magnet,  the  march  of  orbs  in  their 
spheres,  the  revolution  of  the  earth  on  its  axis, 
the  falling  and  the  flowing  tides,  the  rising  and 
the  setting  suns,  the  flight  of  the  eagle  and  the 
full  of  the  sparrow,  are  each,  not  the  expressions 
of  a  law  that  God  made  five  thousand  years  ago, 


TEE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  ^O 

and  left  to  act,  but  are  each  the  direct  response 
to  the  direct  touch  and  the  immediate  power  of 
God.     When  we  substitute  a  law  of  nature  for  a 
volition   of  God,  we  so   far  fail  to  hallow  His 
name.    If  we  use  phrases  merely  for  the  sake  of 
convenience  in  science,  but  never  fail  to  look 
through  the  phrase  and  regard  it  only  as  a  veil 
hiding  God,  or  a  man's  words  substituted  for  the 
acts  of  God  ;  if,  in  short,  we  see  him  in  all,  we 
do  not  fail  to  hallow  thus  far  and  therein   His 
name.     But  the  philosopher  will  naturally  say, 
the  regularity   of  the   sequences,   as   they   are 
called,  of  nature  is  the  evidence  that  God  has 
created  and  left  the  world  to  certain  laws.     For 
instance,  we  find  it  as  a  matter  of  fact  that  seed 
cast  into  the  earth  does   germinate;   that   fire 
does  burn,  that  water  does  roll  down  to  its  level ; 
that   spring  and  summer  and  autumn  come  in 
beautiful   succession,  and   therefore   we   argue, 
says  the  philosopher,  that  these  things  are  laws, 
and  God  has  struck  these  laws  upon  the  world, 
and  retired  and  left  them  to  work  out  their  mis- 


80  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

sion.  The  answer  to  all  this  is,  the  very  fixity 
of  these  things  is  only  another  proof  of  the  ben- 
eficence of  God.  If  antumn  sometimes  came  in 
March,  and  spring  sometimes  came  in  August 
or  September,  we  should  not  know  when  to  sow 
or  what  to  sow,  and  we  should  have  no  hope 
that  we  should  reap  wherein  we  had  sown.  But 
because  these  seasons  remain  fixed  and  orderly, 
the  expressions  of  God's  exuberant  beneficence, 
are  we  to  take  the  very  fixity  which  is  the  evi- 
dence of  his  beneficence,  and  make  that  an 
evidence  that  He  has  left  the  world  to  itself  and 
under  the  domination  of  blind  law?  God  acts 
not  by  caprice  but  in  infinite  wisdom,  and  the 
very  fixity,  if  I  may  use  the  phrase,  of  His  ac- 
tion is  its  evidence  of  His  boundless  wisdom. 
His  great  beneficence.  Strange  but  sad  it  is  that 
man  construes  it  into  a  proof  that  God  wound 
up  the  world  as  a  man  winds  up  his  watch,  and 
then  left  it  to  uncoil  itself  till  its  day  should  be 
finished.  The  truth  is,  it  is  God's  touch  every 
instant  that  makes  the  heart  beat.     Tliere  is  no 


THE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  81 

law  in  your  heart,  separate  from  God's  will,  wliy 
it  should  beat  ten  minutes,  any  more  than  there  is 
why  a  stone  should  beat ;  and  there  is  no  evidence 
why  a  piece  of  bread  should  nourish  you  any  more 
than  a  quantity  of  dust.  I  know  the  popular 
reply,  "  What  nonsense  !  No  more  reason  why 
bread  should  nourish  than  dust !  Is  there  not  so 
much  oxygen,  and  so  much  carbon,  so  much 
gluten,  so  much  saccharine  matter?"  But  this 
only  carries  a  little  farther  back  ;  why  does  the 
saccharine  matter  nourish  ?  why  does  the  gluten 
nourish'^     why     do  all  these  things  combined 

nourish  ? 

The  old-fashioned  theology  of  ancient  days  best 
explains  ;  bread  nourishes  because  God  blesses  it, 
and  my  heart  beats  because  God  touches  it.  The 
law  comes  from  the  Lawgiver,  and  responds  to 
His  touch  ;  and  what  philosophers  call  the  laws  of 
nature  are  simply  the  provisions  of  God's  good- 
ness. We  pray  here  that  in  the  halls  of  science 
in  the  schools  of  the  world,  in  its  colleges  and  in 

its  universities,  in  the  languages  of  the  learned 
4.* 


82  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

and  in  the  vocabularies  of  science,  not  that  law 
without  the  Lawgiver,  but  that  Grod's  name  may 
be  hallowed. 

Let  us  now  study  this  Prayer  in  reference  to 
God's  providential  dealings  in  the  world,  that  is, 
in  reference  to  history.  God  is  as  much  in  na- 
tional history  as  He  is  in  natural  science  ;  as  much 
and  truly  in  every  flower  that  grows  in  nature, 
and  in  every  chapter  that  is  written  in  history, 
as  He  is  in  every  text  that  is  inspired  in  the 
Bible.  We  are  so  prone  to  retain  the  old  leaven 
of  the  Popish  element,  and  to  think  God  is  con- 
iined  to  what  we  call  sacred  things,  sacred  pages, 
sacred  places.  God  is  everywhere  ;  all  earth  is 
His,  the  universe  is  His  ;  and  not  an  angel  can 
worsliip  before  Him,  not  a  hair  can  fall  from  the 
youngest  or  the  oldest  head,  without  His  permis- 
sion. But  how  often  are  we  prone  to  calculate 
contingencies,  to  arrange,  to  locate,  to  proportion- 
ate, and  to  hope,  without  once  thinking  of  God. 
Creation  seen  without  a  Creator  is  scarcely  so 
dreary  a  dungeon  as  history  viewed  without  God. 


THE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  33 

God  is  as  mucli  acting  in  our  present  natural 
hisLorj  as  when  lie  marched  Israel,  by  the  pillar 
of  fire  by  night  and  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  daj-^, 
from  Egypt  into  the  land  of  Canaan.      I  do  not 
believe  in  chance.     Our  creed  does  not  begin,  "  I 
believe  in  chance ;"  but,  "  I  believe  in   God  the 
Father  Almighty,  the  maker  of  all  things."     I  do 
not  believe  that  chance  has  any  more  to  do  with 
the  management  of  nations  than  it  had  with  the 
manufacture  of  the  stars,  or  of  the  stones  of  the 
earth,  or  of  the  fruits  and  flowers  that  blossom  in 
its  bosom  and  adorn  it  with  their  beauty.      All 
this  is  perfectly  compatible  with  man's  responsi- 
bility, and  with  man's  free  will ;  jnst  as  God  mak- 
ing the  earth,  and  carrying  on  the  march  of  the 
material  earth,  is  perfectly  compatible  with  the 
fixity  of  what  we  call  the  laws  under  which  it  is 
governed  ;  so  God  in  history,  carrying  events  to 
their  consummation,  and  allowing  nothing  to  hap- 
pen without  his  cognizance,  permission,  or  con- 
trol, is  perfectly  compatible  with  our   vigorous 
use  of  means.     I  believe  that  the  day  of  every 


84  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

man's  decease  is  fixed  in  the  purpose  of  God  ; 
but,  tliougli  I  so  believe,  I  will  still  do  every- 
thing in  my  power  to  preserve  the  life  which 
God  has  given  me  ;  for  the  same  God  who  has 
fixed  the  day  of  my  decease  has  also  fixed  in  my 
heart  the  love  of  living,  and  therefore  the  duty 
of  taking  all  the  means  to  live  that  He  in  Ills 
providence  puts  in  my  power.  I  know  I  never 
can  harmonize  the  purposes  of  God  with  man's 
free-will ;  I  feel  I  never  can  suflSciently  explain 
them ;  but  because  I  cannot  explain,  it  does  not 
follow  that  these  things  are  not  true,  or  are  in- 
explicable. We  are  far  more  ignorant  than  we 
are  apt  to  think  ourselves,  many  things  are  true 
which  we  are  not  able  to  harmonize,  reconcile, 
or  explain.  But  whilst  I  use  all  the  mcc^ns  of 
life  in  my  power,  to  know  that  I  am  immortal 
till  God  has  nothing  more  for  me  to  do,  is  surely 
a  blessed  thought !  Your  sons,  your  husbands, 
your  brothers,  may  go  forth  io  that  dread  and 
terrible  work  that  will  soon  spread  sad  sorrows 
on  our  shores,  with  this  sustaining  thought,  that 


THE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  85 

while  that  son,  or  husband,  or  brother,  will  use 
all  the  skill  of  modern  military  experience,  and 
all  the  weapons  that  are  prescribed  for  offence 
or  defence,  and  will  take  his  place  in  the  bat- 
talion, and  advance  to  his  dread  mission  as  if 
all  depended  on  himself,  yet  he  may  carry  into 
the  thickest  of  the  conflict  this  thought,  "  There 
is  not  a  bullet  can  touch  me  till  God  allows  it ; 
not  a  sword  can  cut  a  hair  from  my  head  till 
God  commissions  it ;  not  a  force  in  war,  or  fever, 
or  pestilence  can  scathe  me  till  God  gives  per- 
mission ;"  this  is  enough  to  make  a  hero.  All 
this  is  perfectly  compatible  with  the  use,  the 
vio-orous  use,  the  common-sense  use,  of  all  the 
means  of  safety  that  God  may  put  in  our  power. 
If  I  believed  that  human  passions  were  at  this 
moment  reigning  uncurbed  in  Europe,  and  that 
Autocrats  and  Emperors  are  left  to  do  just  as 
they  like  ;  if  I  believed  that  accident  and  im- 
pulse were  determining  the  eventualities  of  the 
world  ;  that  there  is  no  plan,  no  programme,  no 
o-rand  and  blessed  issue ;  if  I  believed  there  was 


86  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

no  helm  with  a  sovereign  band  at  it,  and  no 
chart  written  divinely,  I  should  plunge  into 
absolute  despair,  and  conclude  tbat  cbaos  was 
coming  back,  and  tlie  civilization  of  a  thou- 
sand years  about  to  lapse  into  the  barbarism  of 
days  long  since  gone.  If  I  so  believed,  I  should 
feel  I  was  a  leaf  tossed  upon  the  winds,  a  bubble 
amid  the  eddies  of  the  i^iver;  hope  would  die, 
confidence  would  go,  and  I  should  literally  be  of 
all  men  the  most  miserable.  But  we  hallow 
God's  name  when  we  recognise  God  here,  there, 
everywhere.  Whether  we  can  interpret  unful- 
filled prophecy  or  not,  we  admit  that  in  this 
book,  the  Bible,  as  matter  of  fact  which  nobody 
can  deny,  there  is  what  is  called  prophecy  ;  as 
for  instance  Isaiah's  prophecy,  Jeremiah's,  or 
Ezekiel's.  There  are  prophecies  in  the  Gospels, 
there  are  prophecies  also  in  the  Epistles.  What 
does  prophecy  imply?  If  there  be  predictions 
in  this  book  stretching  to  the  end,  this  fact  that 
God  has  predicted  what  shall  come,  and  that  He 
has  thus  written  what  shall  come,  is   suflicient 


THE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  87 

evidence  that  He  will  preside  over  all  that  hap- 
pens to  evolve  and  bring  to  pass  what  He  him- 
self has  foretold.  Grant  me  that  there  is  in  this 
book  inspired  prophecy,  and  the  irresistible 
corollary  from  it  is  that  God  rules  in  providence. 
Grant  that  in  this  book  God  has  written  down 
what  shall  come  to  pass  and  must  come  to  pass  ; 
and  it  follows  that  He  has  predicted,  and  thus 
bring  that  issue  which  He  Himself  has  previously 
laid  down.  In  short,  it  is  of  all  things  the  most 
difficult  to  look  at  creation  and  infer,  no  God. 
And  I  can  well  understand  the  force  of  the  ex- 
pression, "  He  that  says  there  is  no  God  is  a 
fool."  But  it  is  no  less  difficult  to  look  into  the 
chapters  of  history,  and  to  see  what  is  taking 
place  around  us  in  the  world,  and  to  believe 
that  all  is  chance,  or  accident.  l^o,  we  are  not 
only  spectators,  but  actors  in  a  magnificent 
world-wide  drama.  The  great  author  of  it,  God, 
has  written  it ;  each  man  takes  his  place,  each 
actor  in  it  has  ]Dart,  and  the  issue  of  it  will  be 
what  the  beginning  of  it  was  in  part — glory   to 


88     ■  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

God  in  the  liigliest,  on  earth  peace,    and   good 
■will  to  all  mankind. 

Thus  we  have  seen  how  to  hallow  God  in  cre- 
ation ;  and  also,  how  to  hallow  God  in  provi- 
dence, or  in  historj.  Let  me  consider  the 
waj  in  which  we  are  to  hallow  God,  and  pray 
that  His  name  may  be  hallowed,  in  the  visi- 
ble Church.  By  the  visible  Church  I  mean  any 
one  congregation  of  Christians  met  together  in 
Christ's  name.  This  is  the  normal  idea  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.  The  idea  that  there  is  no 
Church  where  there  is  Episcopacy,  or  no  Church 
where  there  is  Presbytery,  or  no  Church  where 
there  is  Congregationalism,  is  sufficiently  absurd 
— it  i^  give  utterance  to  a  sentiment  not  found 
in  God's  word  ;  and  those  persons  do  violence  to 
good  sense  who  talk  such  nonsense.  The  real 
definition  of  a  Church  is  that  given  by  our  blessed 
Lord,  "  Wheresoever  two  or  three  are  met  to- 
gether in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of 
them  ;"  the  rest  is  but  development — very  beauti- 
ful it  may  be,  and  very  expedient  also ;  and  you 


THE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  89 

may  have  your  strong  preferences  ;  but  wlien  you 
dig-  down  to  the  radical  definition  of  a  Church  of 
Christ,  it  will  be  found  to  be  two  or  three  met  to- 
gether in  His  name.  "We  are  to  hallow  God's 
name  first  of  all  in  public  worship.  We  are  to 
address  none  but  Deity.  It  is  to  desecrate  His 
name,  to  pray  to  angels,  to  saints,  or  to  the  Vir- 
gin Mary ;  or  to  give  to  any  creature,  the  most 
exalted  in  the  universe,  a  portion  of  that  praise, 
glory,  and  honor,  which  is  justly  and  exclusively 
due  to  God.  Again,  we  fail  to  hallow,  or  rather 
we  desecrate,  this  great  name,  when  we  draw 
near  to  God  in  any  other  name  than  in  that  of 
Jesus  Christ  alone.  I  cannot  conceive  a  more 
real,  if  not  intended,  insult  to  our  blessed  Re- 
deemer than  to  think  that  He  is  not  able  to 
mediate  between  God  and  me,  or  that  His  me- 
diation is  so  feeble  that  there  must  interpose  the 
Yirgin  Mary,  or  the  most  exalted  saint,  or 
archangel  that  is  beside  the  throne.  There  is 
none  other  name  in  which  you  can  be  saved  but 
Christ's  ;  there  is  none  other  name  in  which  we 


90  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

are  to  pmy  but  Chrii^t's.  We  want  no  other ; 
and  if  others  were  offered  we  repudiate  them  al- 
together. Never  forget  that  great  thought, 
that  when  the  high  priest  of  old  went  into 
the  holy  of  holies  to  make  intercession,  not  a 
priest,  or  Levite,  or  human  being,  dared  go  with 
him  ;  he  must  appear  and  intercede  alone.  So 
Jesus,  our  High  Priest,  has  gone  into  the  true 
holy  place ;  and  whilst  He  intercedes  He  must 
be  alone ;  neither  priest,  nor  angel,  nor  saint, 
nor  Mary  must  be  with  Him.  What  a  striking 
evidence  has  He  given  us  of  this  in  John  ii. 
Mary,  as  all  the  ancient  Fathers  have  said,  actu- 
ated by  vanity,  and  therefore  surely  not  imma- 
culate, said  to  Jesus,  "  They  have  no  wine." 
What  did  He  answer  ?  Did  He  say,  "  Yes,  queen 
of  heaven  ;  thy  intercession  for  these  thy  poor 
relatives  is  most  proper,  and  therefore  at  thy 
bidding,  and  because  of  the  virtue  of  thy  inter- 
cessioi>,  I  will  turn  all  this  water  into  wine  V 
The  very  reverse  took  place,  for  He  said  in  lan- 
guage most  respectful,  but  no  less  decisive,  "  Wo- 


THE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  91 

man,  what  liave  I  to  do  .with  thee  ?"  It  is  import- 
ant to  notice  that  as  Jesus  comes  out  before  the 
world,  Mary  retires  into  the  shadow  ;  slie  was  mo- 
ther once,  she  is  woman  now.  It  is  as  if  He  had 
said  to  her,  "  Mary,  I  must  tread  the  wine  press 
alone ;  I  alone  must  endure  all  the  agony  and 
bloody  sweat ;  not  even  a  mother's  tears  must 
mingle  with  the  blood  of  the  sufi'ering  Son.  I 
must  pay  tlie  penalty  ;  mine  must  be  all  the  glory  ^ 
and,  therefore,  Mary,  retire  into  that  obscurity 
from  which  thou  didst  emerge  for  a  little  time  ; 
my  name  must  shine  refulgent  above  even  a 
mother's  name,  and  none  other  name  must  min- 
gle its  music  with  mine  ;  it  is  the  only  name  in 
which  men  can  be  saved."  He  alone  must  carry 
the  censer.  He  alone  must  have  the  priestly 
ephod,  He  alone  must  intercede.  We  want  no 
other.  Were  the  greatest  saint  in  heaven,  were 
the  Virgin  Mary  to  come  down  from  her  happy 
place,  for  if,  the  apostle  supposes  an  angel  to 
come,  we  may  suppose  her  to  come  and  to  offer 
her  assistance,  we  should  do  her  the  greatest  ser- 


92  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

vice,  as  we  should  yield  Christ  the  greatest 
glory,  by  bidding  her  stand  aside,  that  He  may 
be  all  and  in  all.  Wlien  Alexander  the  Great 
stood  before  the  cynic  Diogenes,  and  addressed 
liim,  "Diogenes,  basking  in  the  sun  as  you  now 
are,  tell  me  what  is  the  greatest  favor  that  I,  the 
monarch  of  all  these  realms,  can  bestow  upon 
you  ?"  the  cynic  replied,  "  Please  your  Majesty, 
the  greatest  favor  you  can  do  me  is  to  stand 
aside  from  between  me  and  that  sweet  sunshine 
ill  which  I  have  been  basking  all  the  day."  If 
the  Virgin  Mary  were  to  offer  me  the  greatest 
favor  she  could  do  me,  I  would  say,  "  Stand 
aside  that  I  may  live  still  in  the  sunshine  of  that 
Sun  of  Righteousness  under  whose  wings  there 
is  healing,  and  in  whose  name  alone  I  worship." 
We  do  not  hallow  this  name  when  we  substitute 
outward  worship  for  the*worship  of  the  inward 
heart.  The  bowed  knee  is  good,  the  eloquent 
prayer  is  good,  the  musical  praise  is  good  ;  but 
these  are  all  as  the  tinkling  cymbal  and  the 
sounding  brass,  if  the  heart  be  not  there.     The 


THE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  93 

absence  of  the  heart  is  the  absence  of  the  fire 
that  burns  the  sacrifice.  It  is  the  spirit  of  adop- 
tion that  enables  us  to  say,  "  Abba,  Father;"  it 
is  the  spirit  of  holiness  that  enables  us  to  say, 
"Hallowed  be  thy  name."  We  fail  to  hallow 
this  name  when  we  substitute  in  the  house  of 
God  artistic,  and  sensuous,  and  material,  and 
visible  pomp  and  splendor  for  spiritual  and  true 
worship.  I  have  no  doubt  that  in  the  sight  of  a 
holy  being,  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  it  may  be 
in  the  sight  of  angels,  and  I  am  no  Goth,  I  am 
no  Yandal,  I  have  sympathy  with  the  beautiful 
— the  noblest  productions  of  a  Titian,  or  a  Sal- 
vator  Eosa,  or  a  Rubens,  must  appear  mean, 
cold,  and  absolutely  poor.  If  such  be  the  case, 
to  suppose  that  those  ugly  caricatures  in  which 
all  perspective  is  extinguished,  and  where  what 
was  defect  in  the  middle  ages,  because  they  had 
no  knowledge  of  good  drawing,  is  canonized  and 
made  an  excellence  in  the  19th  century ;  whether 
of  our  Blessed  Lord,  or  of  angels,  or  saints,  can 
be  any  consecration  to  the  sanctuary — seems  im- 


94  TEACH  US  TO  FRAi. 

possible  to  an  educated  and  reflecting  mind.  The 
plainest  and  the  simplest  sanctuary  is  surely  the 
best  adapted  for  worship ;  for  the  moment  that 
pictures  attract  the  eye  of  the  worshipper  and 
thus  withdraw  his  heart  from  the  worship,  there 
is  too  much  painting  there  to  be  truly  beautiful, 
or  at  least  to  be  of  spiritual  use.  The  highest 
beauty  is  not  that  which  the  painter's  brush  can 
impart,  or  the  architect's  genius  create  ;  it  is  the 
inner  beauty  of  true  holiness.  Those  Cathedrals 
in  this  very  land  of  England  so  exquisitely  beau- 
tiful as  pieces  of  art,  were  all  built  when  religion 
was  at  its  lowest  ebb.  About  the  time  the  Cathe- 
drals of  York,  and  Lincoln,  and  Canterbury,  and 
Winchester,  were  built,  Hildebrand  was  treadins- 
on  the  necks  of  kings ;  the  people's  children  were 
literally  growing  up  barbarians  and  savages  ;  the 
common  schools  of  Europe  were  a  few  miserable 
cells  connected  with  convents  and  monasteries  ; 
the  bishops  and  priests  were  the  proud  lords  of 
the  world,  and  dictated  to  kings,  cabinets,  and 
emperors,  and  shook  thrones  by  their  nod.     The 


THE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  95 

people  were  slaves,  the  priests  were  despots,  reli- 
gion was  superstition,  the  poor  pined  of  hunger 
and  altars  were  adorned  with  gold.  Morality 
was  scarcely  ever  at  a  lower  ebb.  At  this  dark 
epoch  these  beautiful  Cathedrals  were  reared. 
What  does  this  teach  ?  It  is  possible  to  be  good 
architects  and  bad  bishops ;  to  heap  up  splendid 
ornaments  in  the  church,  and  leave  souls  to 
perish  outside  of  it.  What  we  are  to  covet  is 
not  that  exterior  artistic  beauty  which  is  good 
enough  in  a  play-house,  appropriate  in  an  opei*a, 
admirable  as  specimens  of  the  arts  and  sciences ; 
but  unfit  for  the  solemn  sanctuary,  where  there 
should  be  good  taste,  true  beauty,  but  no  gaudy 
decoration  ;  as  in  dress,  so  in  architecture,  the 
greatest  beauty  consists  not  in  that  which  is 
most  blazing  and  ostentatious,  but  most  simple 
and  severe.  We  fail  to  hallow  God's  name  when 
we  desecrate  the  Christian  Sabbath  to  amusement,  ^ 
to  business,  to  trade,  to  reading  newspapers,  to 
feasting,  drunkenness,  and  such  like.  As  one  of 
the   morning   newspapers   most  nobly  and  elo- 


.A 


96  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

quentlj  said,  wliat  are  called  Sabbatarians,  tliat 
is,  people  that  believe  in  the  Fourth  Command- 
ment, have  the  best  of  it  in  saying  that  the  Sab- 
bath should  be  observed  as  God  commanded  that 
it  should  be. 

And  when  one  looks  at  what  some  statesmen 
advocate  in  this  matter,  one  is  tempted  to  wish 
they  would  let  religion  alone,  and  attend  to  those 
departments  in  which  they  are  more  likely  to 
excel.  If  we  spend  the  Sunday  in  feasting, 
visits,  and  excursions  and  similiar  amusements, 
we  desecrate  that  day  which  God  has  hallowed, 
and  perpetuated  as  the  symbol  upon  earth  of  His 
own  magnificent  and  holy  name.  If  the  work- 
ing classes  surrender  the  Sabbath  they  know 
not  what  they  are  doing.  They  give  up  not 
merely  the  day  on  which  they  may  be  prepared 
for  heaven,  and  be  made  happier,  but  the  only 
day  that  will  be  a  rest  to  their  aching  and  their 
weary  frames.  And  if  you  ever  consent  to  dis- 
place the  Sabbath  from  its  divine  basis,  and  to 
hold  that  the  Sabbath  is  most  expedient  because 


TEE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  97 

it  lets  man  have  a  physical  rest,  the  mill-owner 

will  soon  say,  "  The  Sabbath  having  no  divine 

autliority,  I  do  not  see  why  you  should  have  it 

for  amusement,  I  want  you  and  it  for  business," 

and  very  soon  it  will  be  turned  into  one  of  the 

working  days  of  the  week.     But  if  you  hold  fast 

this,   that  I  must  hallow  the  Sabbath  because 

God  has  so  enjoined  it,  because  it  is  a  "  divine 

obligation,"  you    take  up   ground  on  which  you 

can  stand.   .  Man's  present  physical  and  raentcil 

rest  is  laid  deepest  in  his  divine  obligation  of  the 

Christian  Sabbath.      Man's  right  to  have  respect 

from  man,  springs  from  God's  right  to  have  the 

Sabbath  consecrated  to  His  service.      But  let  us 

look  less  to  statesmen  for  legislation  here.    After 

all,  the  best  guarantee  for  our  holy  Sabbaths  are 

crowded  sanctuaries.     We  must  lean  less  on  law 

and  more  on  the  growth  of  that  inner  life  which 

Christianity  feels.  A  Christian  peoj^le  will  make 

a  happy  nation  and  holy  Sabbaths. 

We  often  fail  to  hallow  God's  name  by  those 

ecclesiastical  distinctions  and  divisions  in  which 
5 


98  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

too  many  still  glory.  One  says,  "  I  am  of  Paul, 
I  am  of  Apollos,  I  of  Cephas."  There  is  among 
worldly  men  what  is  called  hero-worshij) ;  there 
is  among  superstitious  men  what  is  called  saint- 
worship  ;  and  there  may  "^e  among  Protestants 
what  is  nearly  as  bad,  sect-worship.  The  mo- 
ment that  we  think  there  is  no  Church  like  the- 
Church  of  England,  or  no  Church  like  the 
Church  of  Scotland,  and  that  to  worship  outside 
the  one  or  inside  the  other  is  to  fall  into  so!:e 
frightful  heresy,  we  are  making  the  name  of 
a  Reformer,  or  a  church,  or  a  sect,  something 
more  than  it  should  be.  In  all  the  sanctuaries 
of  the  land  God's  name  alone  should  be  exalted 
and  hallowed. 

"We  are  to  hallow  this  name  personally  in  our 
own  hearts  and  lives.  "  Sanctify  the  Lord  God  in 
your  hearts."  "I  will  be  sanctified  in  them  that 
come  near  unto  me."  But  how  are  we  to  do  so? 
By  having  those  hearts  renewed,  and  by  looking 
to  Him  alone  to  do  it ;  by  being  lights  in  the 
world,  the  salt  of  the  earth,  living  epistles  seen 


THE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  99 

and  read  of  all  men.  There  is  no  such  credential 
of  Christianity  as  a  Christian;  there  is  no  such 
proof  or  treatise  on  the  evidences,  as  a  consistent, 
holy,  spotless  life.  That  man  who  as  a  Christian 
is  most  consistent  in  his  personal,  social,  official, 
national  responsibilities,  speaks  and  votes  for 
Christ  when  dumb.  In  increasing  fruitfulness 
we  are  to  hallow  this  name  Our  blessed  Lord 
says,  "  Herein  is  my  Father  glorified,  that  ye  bear 
much  fruit."  When  you  see  the  verdure  of 
spring,  the  blossom  of  the  summer,  the  golden 
fruits  of  autumn,  you  see  the  creations  of  the 
sunshine,  the  dew-drops,  and  the  good  soil.  And 
when  you  see  holy,  consistent,  and  Christian  life, 
tr<^es  of  righteousness,  a  chosen  generation,  a  holy 
nation,  showing  forth  the  j)raises  of  Him  who 
hath  called  them  out  of  darkness  into  His  marvel- 
lous light ;  you  see  there  men  glorifying  God. 
And  we  glorify  Him  and  hallow  His  name  also  by 
missionary  exertion.  If  you  have  felt  Christianity 
to  be  precious  to  3'ourselves;  if  j^ou  have  felt  it  so 
precious  that  you  have  embraced  it  as  the  salva 


100  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

tion  of  your  own  souls ;  and  if  you  look  around 
you  in  the  world  and  see  thousands  in  darkness 
and  perishing  for  want  of  light ;  the  very  first 
instinct  of  your  hearts  will  be  to  make  known 
God's  ways  upon  the  earth  and  His  saving 
health  among  all  nations.  And  when  either 
by  His  own  grand  arrangements  or  through 
your  humble  exertions  that  day  shall  arrive 
when  the  whole  earth  shall  be  covered  with  His 
glory,  and  His  name  shall  be  exalted  above 
every  name,  and  one  song  shall  occupy  all  na- 
tions ;  when  "Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain  to  receive  glory,  and  thanksgiving,  and 
praise,  and  honor,"  shall  be  the  universal  an- 
them;  then  God's  name  will  be  hallowed  in 
science,  hallowed  in  creation,  hallowed  in  his- 
tory, hallowed  in  the  visible  Church,  hallowed 
in  individual  hearts,  and  prayer  shall  cease  to  be 
offered,  for  we  shall  not  pray  the  Lord's  Prayer 
as  now,  but  we  sliall  translate  it  into  praise,  and 
say,  "  Our  Father,  hallowed  is  thy  name;  th}-^ 
kingdom  is  come ;    thy  will  is  done  in    heaven 


THE  ADORING  WORSHIPPER.  101 

as  it  is  done  on  earth ;  thou  hast  given  us  daily 
bread ;  thou  hast  forgiven  us  all  our  sins ;  thou 
hast  delivered  us  from  every  evil,  and  led  us 
into  no  temptation  ;  and  thine  is  the  kingdom, 
the  power,  and  the  glory,  for  ever  and  ever. 
Amen." 

We  hallow  this  name,  not  out  of  terror,  or 
dismay,  not  to  escape  a  pit  full  of  pain,  or  to 
reach  a  paradise  full  of  pleasure,  but  because  we 
love  Him  who  so  deeply  loved  us.  Our  inspira- 
tion is  not  the  hope  of  heaven,  but  the  self-for- 
getful passion  of  gratitude  and  love. 


102  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 


IV. 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE. 
"  Thy  Kingdom  come." — Matt.  vi.  10. 

"  Thy  kingdom  come. "  is  literally,  "  come 
that  kingdom  of  thine;"  "that  very  kingdom 
of  thine ;"  as  if  jDreviously  predicted  in  the 
propliets,  and  looked  for  by  the  peojDle  of  God. 
In  considering  this  petition,  and  the  great  truths 
it  necessarily  involves,  we  are  tempted  to  ask  as 
we  read  the  petition,  "  Thy  kingdom  come,"  has 
God  ceased  to  reign?  Is  not  His  kingdom  a 
perpetual  presence  ?  Does  He  not  rule  in  the 
midst  of  the  nations  of  the  earth?  Is  He  not 
the  King  and  Governor  of  all  ?  Does  He  not 
cover  all  space  with  His  presence,  and  control 
all  events  by  His  power  ;  gniding  stars  in  their 
orbits,  counting  the  hairs  of  the  head,  inspecting 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  103 

the  minutest  atom,   and   weighing  the  heaviest 
orb  ;  so  that  the  greatest  is  not  above  and  beyond 
Him,  the  least  is  not  beneath  Him?     Is  He  not 
therefore  King  and  Knler  over  all  all  the  earth? 
I  answer.  He  is.     God  is  as  much  in  the  facts  of 
history,  as  He  is  in  the  texts  of  the  Bible  ;   and 
every  fact  that  occurs  at  home  or  abroad  is    as 
much  associated  with  God  in  some  shape  as  any 
one  text  that  we  can  select  from  the  Kew  Testa- 
ment Scriptures.      It  is  altogether  an  erroneous 
notion  we  sometimes  entertain,  that  God  speaks  in 
the  Bible  only,  that  He  lives  in  a  place  of  public 
worship  only  ;  and  that  religion    and   religious 
thoughts  have  to  do  with  religions  and  theologi- 
cal things  only.     God  speaks  in   providence   as 
emphatically  as  He  speaks  in  the  Bible.     God  is 
amid  the  tents  of  Meshech  as  truly    as   in   the 
sanctuaries  of  England.      God  is  not  restrained 
to  what  we  call  consecrated  places  ;  He  fills  all 
space  with  His  presence  ;  and  He  is  nearer  the 
humblest  heart  that   prays   to    Him    upon   the 
ocean's  bosom  than  He  is  to  the  encaustic  tiles 


104  TEACH  US  TO  FRAY. 

and  the  tesselated  pavement  of  the  noblest  cathe- 
dral on  the  continent  of  Europe.  But  it  is  no 
less  true  that  a  great  interruption  of  God's  pre- 
sence occurred  nearly  six  thousand  years  ago. 
God  made  man  holy,  therefore  happy ;  His  vice- 
gerent upon  earth,  to  rule  and  govern  in  His 
name,  subjecting  to  His  jurisdiction  all  created 
things.  But  explain  it  as  you  like,  or  be  puzzled 
by  it  as  you  may,  sin  the  great  disturbing  ele- 
ment crept  into  the  world  ;  and  from  that  day 
to  this,  and,  as  far  as  we  can  see,  till  sin  shall 
be  expunged  and  all  things  restored  to  their  origi- 
nal orbit,  the  world  will  be  distracted  and  p'er- 
plexed  by  antagonisms  and  hostilities,  and  with 
men  that  resist  His  will,  deny  His  jurisdiction, 
and  often  and  impiously  defy  His  judgments. 
We  see  around  us  in  the  world  at  this  moment 
and  each  in  his  own  heart — that  little  world  in 
which  he  has  a  still  deeper  stake — affinities  hos- 
tile to  God.  There  is  not  a  soul  on  earth  that 
has  not  sometimes,  perhaps  not  expressed  words, 
but  felt  on  some  occasions,  "I  wish  there  were 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  105 

no  God  :  I  wish  He  did  not  see  me  ;  I  wish  He 
did  not  know  what  I  am  about."    Such  thoughts 
have   occurred  to  many  more  than  once.     Yet 
wliat  fearful  thoughts  !     The  most  awful  atheism 
and  blasphemy  combined  are  in  these.     That 
one  thought  felt  in  one  single  individual  is  evi- 
dence of  something  that  has  gone  wrong  in  this 
world.     How   also   can    we    explain   tears   that 
waste  it,  the  pestilences  that  have  swept  it,  the 
blood  that  has  deluged  its  greenest  spots,  and 
made  them  very  aceldemas ;    except  upon   the 
supposition  that  some  dire  intrusive  element  has 
crept  into  our  world,  as  fever  creeps  into  the 
human   physical  economy,    and    disturbed,    dis- 
organized, made  feverish   and  restless,  all  hu- 
manity all  created  things  ;    and  that  while  the 
kingdom  will  come,  the  evidence  is  irresistible 
in  every  land,  and  more  or  less  in  the  sensations 
of  every  heart,  that  the  kingdom  in  its  fullness, 
in  its  glory,  and  in  its  completeness,  is  not  yet 
come.     It  is  the  burden  of  prophecy,  it  is  the 
subject  of  prayer,  it  is  not  yet  the  record  of  his- 


106  TEACH  U^i  TO  FRAY. 

toiy  before  us.  The  origin  and  the  explanation 
of  all  this  disturbance  is  that  man  sinned ;  and 
this  explains  all.  You  cannot  explain  our  pre- 
sent physical  or  moral  position  without  the 
Book  of  Genesis.  Philosophers  have  tried  it ; 
men  that  smiled  at  the  idea  of  a  woman  taking 
an  apple  from  a  tree  and  bringing  by  such  a 
trivial  thing  death  into  the  world  and  all  our 
woe,  have  presented  their  solutions ;  but  not 
only  have  infidels  been  amazed,  but  their  own 
successors  have  smiled  that  any  could  be  such 
fools  as  to  believe  tlieir  own  solutions :  and  we 
fall  back  upon  this  simple,  severe,  but  sublime 
record,  of  Genesis,  that  that  one  act  did  open 
the  flood-gates  of  sin  ;  and  we  and  our  children 
taste  the  bitterness  of  that  apple  that  Eve 
thought  would  taste  so  sweet,  as  it  was  so  plea- 
sant to  the  eye.  The  fact  itself  of  any  one  sin 
viewed  in  its  outward  act  seems  a  trivial  thing. 
"What  is  stealing'^.  Putting  your  hand  on  an- 
other man's  purse — a  :!  ere  mechanical  act. 
How    should    putting   your   hand   into    another 


A  MISSION  iRY  DESIRE.  JoT 

man's  purse  and  filling  that  liand  with  s  few  gold 
sovereigns,    transport    you   beyond   the   sea   to 
Botany   Bay  ?     It   seems  absurd ;   but  if;  is  so. 
Why  is  it  so?      Because  that  one  act  is  in  its 
moral  nature    very  bad,   and  is  evidence  of  a 
wrong  state  within,  and  the  source  of  many  evils 
without.     "When  Eve  took  the  apple,  if  apple  it 
was,  from  the  forbidden  tree,  it  was  evidence  of 
emotions  rising  from  the  depths  of  her  heart, 
alien  to  her  true  nature,  hostile  to  God,  denying 
His  supremacy  :  and  telling  Him  to  His  face, 
"  You  have  said   this  fruit  is  bad  and  will  do 
great  mischief  if  I  touch  it.      But  is  is  so  beau- 
tiful ;  and  then  I  am  told  by  this  wise  personage 
who  has   introduced  himself  to  my  notice  with- 
out an  introduction  or  an  apology,  it  will  make 
make  me  so  wise  ;  and  therefore  though  thou,  O 
God,  hast  told  me  this,  yet  I  think  my  judgment 
is  perfectly  trustworthy ;  and    I  will   give    de- 
ference to  it."     There  was  thus  induced  a  moral 
state  of  things  altogether  wrong.      But  you  say, 
"  What  a  pity  that  God  made  such  a  tree,  with 


108  TEACH  us  TO  PRAY. 

such  consequences  !"  Rather  exclaim,  What  a 
pity  that  God  made  you  a  creature  :  this  is  as 
rational  an  ohjection.  The  very  law  of  a  crea- 
ture is  obedience  and  subjection  to  a  creator ; 
and  as  there  must  be  obedience,  which  is  an 
outward  thing,  and  the  expression  of  an  inner 
state,  there  must  be  an  outward  sacrament  or 
outward  symbol  by  which  that  obedience  shall 
be  visibly  perpetuated,  or  visibly  broken.  God 
might  have  said  to  Eve,  "  You  shall  not  walk  in 
that  path ;  you  shall  not  go  near  that  flower  ; 
yon  shall  not  look  into  that  ])riglit  stream  ;  you 
shall  not  smell  that  fragrant  rose."  An}'^  one  of 
these  would  have  been  substantially  the  same. 
There  was  no  poison  in  that  tree ;  there  was  no 
moral  sin  in  that  fruit  that  she  ate,  any  more 
than  in  the  fragrance  of  any  of  the  flowers  in  the 
garden.  The  sin  was  in  doing  what  God  for- 
bade ;  and  that  outward  act  was  the  flrst  step  in 
apostacy  from  God,  and  brought  into  the  world 
death  and  all  our  woe.  But  why  did  God  allow 
her  to  do  so  ?  might  He  not  have  prevented  all 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  109 

tliis  by  preventing  her  touching  it  ?  Such  ob- 
jector would  be  the  very  first  to  complain  tliat 
God  restrains  our  will.  What  is  it  that  men 
clamor  for  every  day  ?  independence:  each  man 
wishing  to  be  a  sovereign  for  himself.  And  tlie 
very  objection  that  you  urge  against  our  consti- 
tution rebounds  upon  yourselves,  God  made 
Eve  free ;  with  every  inducement  to  persevere 
in  obedience  ;  with  every  dissuasive  to  violate 
that  simple  law;  with  every  inclination  to  obey, 
with  every  disinclination  to  rebel.  And  yet  she 
rebelled.  And  if  the  Eves  of  England  had  been 
placed  in  her  circumstances  they  would  have 
broken  the  law  sooner,  and  if  possible,  precipi- 
tated a  greater  ruin  upon  them  and  their  de- 
scendants. If  you  ask,  why  has  God  allowed 
sin  to  enter  ?  There  I  must  stop.  Whence  sin 
came  I  cannot  explain  ;  we  only  know  there  are 
mysteries  far  back  of  all  that  we  do  know,  tliat 
make  us  feel  in  our  proudest  moments  very 
humble,  or  at  least  very  little;  and  teach  philo- 
sophers to  say,  what  the  greatest  and  chiefest  of 


110  TEA  ClI  US  TO  Pit  A  Y. 

tliem  all  so  becautifully  said,  "I  am  but  a  child 
gathering  shells  washed  up  by  the  sea  waves ; 
the  great  depths  of  the  ocean  are  unsounded  by 
human  plumb-line  and  far  beyond."  Instead  of 
quibbling  about  the  why,  or  disputing  the 
wherefore,  let  us  rejoice  that  the  issue  of  all  will 
be  greater  glory  to  God ;  and  that  this  blessed 
fact  I  am  commissioned  to  preach  to  every 
human  being,  that  not  one  living  soul  tliat  lieai'S 
the  Gospel  will  ever  be  condemned  for  what  Eve 
did  ;  but  if  condemned  it  will  be  for  this,  that  he 
has  rejected  the  great  remedy,  Christ  and  Him 
crucified  ;  which  puts  right  all  that  Eve  left  as 
her  legacy  of  wrong,  giving  glory  to  God  and 
salvation  to  the  very  chiefest  of  sinners. 

There  is  in  every  prophecy,  the  earliest  begin- 
ning in  Paradise  itself,  the  intimation  of  a  king- 
dom mor^  glorious  at  the  close  of  this  dispensa- 
tion than  that  which  constituted  its  dawn  and  its 
commencement  upon  earth.  It  was  first  an- 
nounced in  Paradise  itself,  "  The  woman's  seed 
shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head."      "We  find    the 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  HI 

dying  Patriarch,  before  lie  closed  his  eyes  upon 
his  sons,  speaking  of  a  Shiloh  who  should  come 
to  reign,  and  to  whom  the  gathering  of  the  na- 
tions should  be.  David  sings  its  joys,  Daniel 
proclaims  its  dawning  glories ;  Jesus  appeared 
the  King  of  it ;  and  Pontius  Pilate,  contrary  to 
his  own  designs,  was  constrained  to  inscribe  the 
magnificent  truth  upon  the  Cross  of  Him  that 
will  be  crowned,  "Jesus  of  ISTazareth  the  King 
of  the  Jews."  To  ascertain  the  nature  of  this 
kingdom,  let  us  first  of  all  view  it  as  the  kingdom 
of  grace,  existent  and  progressive  now  ;  com- 
posed, first,  of  principles,  perfect  in  themselves, 
but  imperfectly  developed  in  and  by  us;  and 
next,  of  persons,  accepted  in  themselves,  yet  im- 
perfect in  sanctification.  Secondly,  let  us  view 
it  as  the  kingdom  of  glory,  where  there  are  per- 
fect principles  perfectly  developed,  and  perfect 
subjects  perfectly  sanctified.  Let  us  view  it, 
then,  first  as  the  kingdom  of  grace  ;  namely, 
with  principles  in  themselves  perfect,  but  im- 
perfectly developed  in  us  ;  and  also  as  composed 


1X2  TEACE  US  TO  PRAY. 

of  persons  accepted  in  Clirist,  but  imperfect  in 
themselves.  Now  at  present  this  kingdom  is 
very  much  a  hidden  and  unimpressive  influence. 
"  The  world  knows  us  not,"  says  John,  "  as  it 
knew  him  not."  Xobody  at  tliis  moment  can 
infallibly  chalk  out  the  Church  of  Christ ;  no  one 
glancing  over  all  that  surround  a  communion 
table,  or  kneel  together  at  the  footstool  of  tlie 
heavenly  grace,  can  say,  This  is  a  Christian  and 
that  is  not.  And  the  moment  we  begin  to  discri- 
minate and  weed,  as  we  would  wish,  the  tares  from 
the  wheat,  we  find  do  not  diminish  the  num- 
ber of  the  tares,  and  we  do  great  injury  to  the 
precious  wheat.  This  kingdom  is  at  this  moment 
growing  in  the  silence  and  the  secrecy  of  indi- 
vidual hearts,  in  the  sequestered  and  lonely  places 
of  the  world  ;  its  great  characteristic  being,  while 
its  blessed  King  and  Lord  at  present  is  clad  in 
obloquy  and  contempt,  that  "  not  many  rich,  not 
many  great,  not  many  noble,  are  called."  It  is 
like  the  light  of  the  morning,  that  dawns  softly, 
then  increases  more  and  more   unto   the  perfect 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  J  13 

day  ;  or  like  tlie  fruit  trees  and  flowers  in  spring, 
there  is  a  long  preliminary  process  beneath  the 
soil  and  out  of  sight,  before  the  fragrant  blossoms 
of  May  and  the  golden  fruits  of  Autumn  come 
forth.  This  kingdom  first  comes  into  us,  and  then 
we  come  into  it.  It  becomes  in  each  Christian  a 
personal  possession;  "The  kingdom  is  within 
you."  And  lastly  we  become  its  subjects,  and  the 
heirs  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Here,  too,  now,  is 
the  difference  between  God's  way  of  promotino- 
the  highest  good  and  man's  way.  Man  begins  at 
the  circumference,  and  works  inwards  towards  the 
heart ;  God  begins  by  planting  His  kingdom  a 
living  germ  in  the  individual  heart ;  and  thereby 
influencing  the  whole  man,  and  progressively 
giving  tone  and  shape  to  all  society.  The  con- 
stant tendency  of  man  is,  to  think  that  he  can 
regenerate  the  world  by  science,  by  literature,  by 
steam-engines,  by  railroads,  by  newspapers,  by 
Acts  of  Parliament;  and  every  day  he  find.-j, 
though  he  pursues  his  course  as  if  he.had  never 
failed  in  it,  how  great  and  palpable  his  mistakes 


114  TEACH  us  TO  FRAY. 

are.     But  wheu  God  goes  forth  to  revolutionize 
the  world,  lie  does  so  by  regenerating  individual 
hearts,  and  radiating  from  those  hearts    an    in- 
fluence that  makes  the  world  holier,  and  happier, 
and  wiser.     The  constant  shout  of  the  world  is, 
"  Lo  here ;  lo  there  ;"  the  constant  response  from 
heaven  is,  "  The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you ;" 
and  if  it  be  not  there,  it  is  not  yet  the  time   to 
look  for  it  elsewhere.       Man    can    beautify    the 
world  ;  but  he  can  neither  make  the  world,  nor 
right  it  when  it  is  gone  wrong.      There  is  nmcli 
that  he  can  do  ;  but  he  has  to  learn  that  there  is 
much  more  that  it  is  folly,  if  not  atheism,  to  at- 
tempt to  do.      This  kingdom  is  defined  by   an 
apostle  in  words  that  are  extremely  comprehen- 
sive.    Paul  says,  "The  kingdom  of  God" — this 
kingdom  of  grace  that   we   pray    may    come — 
"  the  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink ; 
but  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost."     There  is  the  magnificent  definition  of 
what  the  kingdom  of  God  is.    It  is  first  negative  ; 
"  It  is  not  meat  and  drink."     And  these  two 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  II5 

words  are  used  for  all  external,  appreciable,  eccle- 
siastical, or  secular  things.  It  is  nothing  outer. 
Kot  ceremony;  these  may  be  too  many,  or  they 
may  be  too  severe,  or  they  may  be  too  few :  but 
these  do  not  constitute  one  atom  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  There  may  be  a  liturgy,  or  there 
may  be  none ;  there  may  be  infant  baptism,  or 
there  may  be  adult  baptism ;  there  may  be 
kneeling,  or  there  may  be  standing.  But  these 
things  are  mere  extrinsic  arrangements  of  no 
value  ;  they  do  not  constitute  an  atom  of  the 
kingdum  of  heaven  ;  for  it  is  not  meat  nor  drink. 
Xor  is  it,  in  the  next  place,  anything  ritual.  It 
is  neither  the  robes  of  a  priest,  nor  the  position 
of  the  building,  nor  the  attitude — east,  west,  or 
north,  or  south — of  the  worshipper.  It  is  neither 
Episcopacy  nor  Presbytery  ;  it  is  neither  Estab- 
lished Church  nor  Dissent.  You  may  be  Chris- 
tian in  any  of  these,  and  you  may  be  Christian 
in  none  of  these.  These  are  the  mere  fringes  on 
the  robe,  they  are  not  the  robe  itself;  the  mere 
decorations,  not  the  substance.     Christianity  can 


116  TEACH  us  TO  PRAY. 

live  and  flourish  with  them ;  it  can  live  in  spite 
of  them.  "  The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  nor 
drink."  These  things  vary  like  the  clouds  in  the 
sk}'^ ;  but  the  stars  in  the  darkest  night  sliine 
briglit  and  luminous  when  all  the  clouds  have 
swept  past  them.  These  things  vary  as  the 
politics  of  the  world,  useful,  expedient ;  one  it 
may  be  more  preferable  than  the  other ;  but 
none  of  these  are  essential.  And  remarkable  it 
is,  the  great  battles  that  agitate,  and  deface,  and 
discredit,  the  Christian  Church,  are  not  upon 
the  inner  ground  which  I  proceed  to  unfold,  but 
upon  this  outside  ground  which  is  defined  by 
the  Apostle  as  "  meat  and  drink,"  or  form  and 
ceremony.  What  is  the  quarrel  between  one? 
Episcopacy  or  Presbytery.  Between  others  it  is 
infant  baptism  or  adult  baptism.  Between  oth- 
ers it  is  a  liturgy  or  no  liturgy.  And  the  bigotry 
is  not  all  upon  one  side.  I  have  met  members 
of  the  Scottish  Church,  so  bigoted  tliat  they  have 
believed,  and  said  they  believed,  it  was  im])ossi- 
ble  to  worship  God  through  the  very  beautiful 


I 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  117 

liturgy  of  the  Chnrcli  of  England.  And  I  have 
met  members  of  the  Church  of  England  who 
regard  those  as  scarcely  above  Jews  or  Mahom- 
etans who  do  not  worship  according  to  their 
forms.  There  is  no  monopoly  of  bigotry  in 
any  Church.  "Wherever  man  attaches  an  over-im- 
portance to  "  meat  and  drink,"  to  form  and  cere- 
mony, to  Episcopacy  or  Presbytery,  he  is  at  least 
on  perilous  ground;  he  is  certainly  on  highly 
controversial  ground,  for  it  is  there  that  all  the 
volcanic  explosions  have  occurred  that  have  made 
infidels  more  bitter,  and  the  Church  of  Christ  to 
be  less  influential  as  a  kingdom  among  man- 
kind. But  this  kingdom  is  none  of  these.  What 
is  it  ?  It  is,  says  the  Apostle,  "  righteousness." 
First  an  outer  state,  then  an  inner  character./ 
Here  is  the  outer  state  ;  "  He  that  knew  no  sin 
was  made  sin  for  me,  that  I  might  be  made  the 
righteousness  of  God  by  him."  That  is  my  sins 
as  a  believer  were  imputed  to  Christ,  and  He  suf- 
fered all  the  penalty  ;  His  righteousness  as  the 
Saviour  is  imputed  to  me,  and  I  receive,  therefore, 


118  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

and  therefore  alone,  all  the  honour,  the  happiness 
and  the  glory.  In  other  words,  ever}'  snhject  of 
this  kingdom  is  clad  in  wliite  rohes,  wliicli  is  tlie 
righteousness  of  saints.  He  is  justified  by  that 
only  righteousness  which  Clirist  bequeathed  as 
the  Lord  our  righteousness.  In  other  words,  my 
title  to  heaven,  my  right  to  everlasting  glor3% — 
that  which  I  will  plead,  and  satisfied  that  the  plea 
can  no  more  be  rejected  than  God  can  be  dethron- 
ed,— is  not  anything  I  am,  or  anything  I  have 
done,  or  anything  I  have  paid,  or  anything  I  have 
suifered  ;  but  that  which  has  been  done  and  paid 
for  me,  the  righteousness  alone  of  Jesus  Christ 
my  Lord.  This  righteousness  is  also  internal  or 
character.  Christ's  righteousness,  my  title,  is 
imputed  to  me,  and  remains  the  outside  fair  robe 
inwhich  I  am  clad  ;  the  Holy  Spirit's  righteous- 
ness is'imparted  to  me,  and  my  heart  is  inlaid 
with  it  as  the  most  precious  and  enduring  orna- 
ment. And  wherever  there  is  this  outer  right- 
eousness, constituting  my  title  to  heaven,  there  is 
this  inner  character,  constituting  my  fitness  and 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  119 

my  qualification  for  heaven.  "We  are  justified  by 
the  righteousness  of  Clirist,  imputed  to  us  as  a 
title ;  and  we  are  sanctified  by  the  righteousness 
of  the  Spirit,  imparted  to  us  as  a  character.  The 
first  constituent  element  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  therefore  righteousness.  He  who  is  thusjusti- 
fied,  and  thus  sanctified,  and  thus  born  again,  is 
a  subject  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  whether  he 
worship  in  a  meeting-house,  a  chapel,  a  church,  a 
cathedral,  on  the  banks  of  a  river,  or  on  the  brow  of 
a  mountain.  God  has  enfranchised  him  as  free 
of  the  universe  ;  and,  whatever  be  the  sect  or  tlie 
denomination  that  he  may  belong  to,  he  is  a 
member  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  and  an  heir  of 
the  kingdom  of  glory.  Wliat  a  pity  that  we  do 
not  keep  this  great  truth,  clear,  firm,  fast,  in  our 
inmost  hearts.  In  proportion  to  the  importance 
we  attach  to  the  inner  thing,  righteousness,  will 
be  the  smallness  of  the  importance  we  attach  to 
the  outer  thing,  called  "  meat  and  drink."  And 
hence,  when  this  feeling  is  right  we  shall  like  best 
the  church — whatever  be  its  form  or  its  ecclesias- 


._! 


120  TEACH  US  TO  PRAT. 

tical  polity,  if  there  be  nothing  in  it  essentially 
■wrong, — in  which  these  everlasting  truths  are 
brought  home  to  our  minds  with  the  greatest 
clearness,  impressed  upon  our  hearts  with  the 
greatest  emphasis  ;  where,  in  short,  we  learn  most 
clearly  the  way  that  leads  to  heaven,  and  the 
happiness  that  may  be  drunk  from  many  of 
those  secret  and  sequestered  springs  that  are  in 
it,  and  that  God  has  left  for  our  good. 

The  second  element  of  this  kingdom  is  peace. 
"  Peace  is  the  very  earliest  fruit  of  righteousness. 
Justified  by  faith  we  have  peace  with  God  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  We  are  told  in  Scripture 
that  the  natural  heart  is  not  only  hostile  to  God, 
but  enmity  to  God.  "We  are  told  in  the  same 
Scripture  that  the  instant  my  sins  are  forgiven  ; 
and  that  I  can  see  on  the  clearest  grounds  that  I 
can  be  admitted  into  lieaven  by  the  righteousness 
of  Him  whom  I  embrace  as  my  only  Saviour  ;  all 
my  fears  of  the  future  are  dissipated,  all  my  dread 
of  the  after  consequences  of  death  is  annihilated 
and  I  can  go  forward  into  scenes  of  peril,  into 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  jgl 

places  of  danger,  into  siclaness,  into  tlie  grave  it- 
self, not  insensible  to  these  things,  for  that  would 
be  stoicism,  but  triumphing  over  these  thino-s 
through  the  possession  of  that  peace  which  springs 
from  the  deep  conviction  that  I  am  justified  by 
the  righteousness  of  Christ  alone.  The  atmosphere 
of  my  soul  may  be  shattered  by  the  storms  of  con- 
flicting passions,  and  my  heart  oppressed  by  the 
fierce  democracy  that  they  create  within  it,  but  I 
no  sooner  lay  hold  upon  Christ,  the  King  of 
Righteousness,  the  Saviour,  than  its  atmosphere 
is  calmed,  its  storms  are  hushed  ;  and  I  enjoy 
peace,  even  when  I  listen  to  the  thunders  of 
Sinai ;  peace  when  I  gaze  on  its  lightning  flashes 
athwart  a  clouded  sky ;  peace  when  I  look  at  the 
great  White  Throne  ;  peace  when  I  look  abroad 
at  all  the  turmoil  of  the  world  in  which  we  live  : 
an  inner  peace  that  is  not  the  denial  of  my  sin- 
fulness, but  casting  it  all  upon  Him  who  has 
borne  it  all  away  ;  a  peace  that  is  not  ease,  but 
conflict  with  sin  ;  not  acquiescence  in  evil  for  the 
sake  of  quiet,  but  conflict  with  evil  for  the  sake 


122  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

of  Christ.  "  In  the  w«rld  je  shall  have  tribula- 
tion, but  in  me  ye  shall  have  peace."  "  Be  of 
good  cheer,  I  have  overcome  the  world."  The 
kingdom  of  God  is  righteousness  in  me,  and 
l)eace  that  passeth  understanding.  Here  is 
the  true  Peace  Society  ;  —  namely,  the  king- 
dom of  God.  You  never  can  secure  peace  by 
outward  applications.  If  the  human  body  has 
degenerated  into  a  state  of  disease,  all  the  plas- 
ters you  can  apply  will  not  heal  it.  The  cure 
must  be  something  that  will  touch  its  internal 
springs  of  health.  If  the  volcano  is  pouring  out 
its  streams  of  molten  lava,  all  the  showers  of 
heaven  will  not  quench  it,  you  must  go  deeper 
than  that,  and  take  away  the  secret  sources  from 
which  its  fires  are  fed.  So  war  in  the  world,  and 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  is  to  be  put  an 
end  to,  not  by  speeches  against  it,  nor  by  a  uni- 
versal compact,  "  I  am  determined  not  to  make 
war  any  more."  The  result  of  this  will  be  only 
the  more  wicked,  taking  the  opportunity  of  in- 
vading the  least  suspecting,  and  turning  the  un- 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  123 

suspiciousness  of  the  one  to  tlie  benefit  and 
aggrandizement  of  the  other.  The  true  way  to 
secure  peace  is  not,  depend  upon  it,  to  bum 
your  fleet,  nor  yet  to  disband  your  army,  it  is 
rather  to  be  the  other  way.  The  true  way  to 
obtain  lasting  peace,  a  peace  that  nations,  com- 
munities, individuals,  will  feel  and  hold  fast,  is 
to  spread  that  blessed  Gospel  till  it  rises  and 
reaches  the  cold  heart  of  the  northern  autocrat, 
pervades  the  bosoms  of  kings  and  emperors,  and 
cabinet  ministers,  and  statesmen  ;  and  when  all 
men  have  learned  how  precious  this  Gospel  is, 
and  have  tasted  the  sweetness  of  its  peace,  then, 
and  only  then,  the  sword  will  not  be  locked  in 
its  scabbard,  as  some  would  propose,  but  turned 
into  the  ploughshare,  and  the  spear  will  not  be 
left  in  the  manufactory,  as  some  say,  but  beaten 
into  the  pruning-hook,  and  the  nations  will  war 
no  more. 

The  third  element  of  this  kingdom  is  joy. 
"  Righteousness,  peace,  and  joy."  It  begins  in 
righteousness,  it  advances  in  peace,  it  culminates 


124  7 EACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

and  flowers  in  joy.  Joy  is  to  peace,  just  what 
sunshine  is  to  daylight ;  a  brighter  manifestation 
of  happiness.  And  now  where  these  three  fruits, 
righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy,  are  found, 
tliere  you  have  wliat  our  Lord  calls  the  kingdom 
of  God  within  you.  Only  let  no  Christian  he 
discouraged.  It  is  possible  that  some  who  read 
this  have  got  hold  of  the  righteousness  which  is 
the  first  element,  but  are  yet  strangers  to  the 
peace  and  joy  that  follow ;  or  it  may  be-  that 
others  have  a  firm  grasp  of  the  righteousness, 
but  their  peace  very  wavering,  and  their  joy 
very  faint  and  dim.  Nevertheless,  trust,  be 
patient,  read,  pray  :  and  righteousness  will  dif- 
fuse itself  in  an  atmosphere  of  peace,  and  that 
peace  will  create  the  sunshine  of  joy,  and  you 
will  learn  that  God  will  not  quench  the  faintest 
spark,  or  extinguish,  or  forsake,  or  forget  the 
lowest  cry  for  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy. 

Having  thus  seen  the  constituent  elements  of 
this  kingdom  of  grace,  let  us  now  turn  to  the 
subjects  of  it.     The  elements  of  it  are  righteous- 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  125 

ness,  peace,  joy  ;  the  subjects  of  it  are  the  pos- 
sessors of  these  elements.  They  are  called  in  Scrip- 
ture "  the  sons  of  God,"   "  a  chosen  generation, 
a  holy  nation,"  "  the  heirs  of  God,"  "  the  servants 
of  God."    The  kingdom  comes  first  into  their 
hearts,  they  are  then  translated  as  subjects  into 
this  kingdom.      Instead  of  enumerating  their 
characteristics  from  the  Ke-w  Testament,  let  me 
state  that  they  constitute  altogether  a  Catholic 
kingdom.     There  is  not  a  word  in  the  IlTew  Tes- 
tament more  beautiful  than  that  word  "  Catho- 
lic."    It  is  because   we  are  Catholics  that  we 
never  can   consent  to  be  iioman  Catholics,  or 
Anglican  Catholics.     The  meaning  of  the  word 
"  Catholic  "  is  "  over  all."     Hence  Peter's  Epis- 
tles  are    addressed   to   the   Catholics.      John's 
Epistle  is  addressed  to  the  Catholics,  that  is,  to 
those  Christians  of  every  name,  denomination, 
form,  ceremony,  usage,  throughout  the  whole 
world,  in  whose  hearts  there  has  been  planted 
that  kingdom  which  is  righteousness,  and  peace, 
and  joy.     This  kingdom  embraces  not  merely 


126 


TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 


contemporaneous  Christians,  but  all  Christians 
of  all  ages  that  are  past,  and  Christians  that  are 
now  in  heaven  and  in  glory.  There  is  but  one 
universal  Church  ;  part  of  which  is  not  yet  born, 
but  is  in  the  purposes  of  God ;  part  of  Mdiich  is 
living,  but  not  yet  born  again  ;  part  of  which  is 
now  in  heaven,  and  part  of  which  is  struggling 
amid  the  trials,  the  storms,  and  perplexities  of 
this  present  world.  All  these  combined  together 
constitute  the  one  family  of  Christ,  the  one  holy 
Catholic  kingdom ;  to  which  Christ's  name  is 
the  only  pass-word,  to  be  a  member  of  wdiich  is 
requisite  that  you  belong  neither  to  Episcopacy, 
nor  Presbytery,  nor  Independency;  but  that  you 
have  in  ^^our  hearts  righteousness,  peace,  and 
joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  this  company, 
some  of  whom  existed  before  the  Flood,  some  in 
the  days  of  Abraham,  some  in  the  desert  with 
Moses,  some  in  tlie  Church  of  Rome,  thousands 
and  increasing  thousands  of  whom  are  in  every 
denomination  upon  eartli,  all  together  when 
complete,  shall  be  presented  to  Christ  a  glorious 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  127 

Church,  without  spot,  or  blemish,  or  wrinkle,  or 
any  such  thing.  But  for  any  one  to  call  himself 
a  Catholic,  whilst  he  denounces  all  that  submit 
not  to  his  ecclesiastical  polity,  is  to  misappro- 
priate the  word  and  mistake  his  own  character. 
This  kingdom  is  a  united  kingdom.  There  may 
be  no  visible  uniformity  discoverable  by  the 
eye,  there  may  be  on  the  contrary  great  variety 
of  aspect ;  different  ceremonies  ;  different  forms 
and  usages,  and  yet  true  unity.  The  great  blun- 
der into  which  most  people  fall  when  they  hear 
the  pretensions  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
arises  from  want  of  distinguishing  two  things 
infinitely  different.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church 
has  uniformity,  but  she  has  no  unity.  The  Pro- 
testant Church  has  unity,  but  it  has  no  uni- 
formity. Uniformity  is  a  thing  superinduced 
from  without,  not  something  originated  from 
within ;  but  unity  is  something  originated  from 
within ;  identity  of  belief,  of  principle,  of  trust, 
of  joy,  and  of  hope.  And  among  all  true 
Christians,  the  great   truths   that  they  hold  in 


128  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

common,  outshine  infinitely  all  the  points  of 
collision,  and  unhappily  discord,  that  sometimes 
break  out  amongst  them.  And  if  true  Christians 
thought  more  of  the  great  things  and  the  glori- 
ous thmgs  on  which  they  agree,  and  troubled 
themselves  less  about  the  little  things,  and  often 
paltry  things,  about  which  they  differ,  there 
would  be  not  increase  of  unity,  for  that  is 
already  perfect,  but  there  would  be  increase  of 
brotherly  love,  affection  and  sympathy,  through- 
out the  whole  Catholic  and  visible  Church  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  one  sense  I  admit  the 
Church  of  Rome  has  unitj^,  but  it  is  not  in  the 
highest  sense ;  but  it  teaches  us  a  lesson.  In 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  all  the  divisions 
that  prevail  amid  their  denominations,  which 
they  call  by  a  higher  sounding  word,  orders,  are 
forgiven  each  by  the  other  and  all  by  the  Pope, 
on  the  condition  that  Pwedemptorists,  and  Friars, 
and  Passionists,  and  Jesuits,  and  all  the  rest, 
shall  cling  to  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  as  it  is 
called ;  and  hold  the  Pope  to  be  their  head  and 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  129 

tlieir  centre.  That  teaches  ns  a  great  lessun. 
All  the  differences  that  subsist  among  Christiana 
should  be  forgiven  and  forgotten,  on  condition 
that  all  cling  to  the  Cross  of  Christ  and  to  the 
Son  of  God,  the  only  Saviour,  King,  and  Lord. 
Tliey  forgive  their  differences  because  of  their 
hold  of  a  human  creature ;  we  may  forgive  ours, 
seeing  that  we  are  children  of  the  same  Father, 
brethren  of  the  same  Elder  Brother,  subjects  of 
the  same  King,  and  heirs  of  the  same  glory. 

It  is  in  the  next  place  a  holy  kingdom.  Kot 
that  every  subject  of  it  is  perfectly  holy ;  nay,  it 
is  too  true  that  the  best  Christians  sin,  and  the 
holiest  man  upon  earth  must  say  every  day,  "  If 
I  say  that  I  have  no  sin,  I  deceive  myself,  and 
the  truth  is  not  in  me."  But  the  difference  be- 
tween a  Christian  and  a  worldly  man  sinning  is 
this.  If  a  Christian  sin  through  some  sore,  sud- 
den, unexpected  trial,  his  very  j&rst  impulse  is 
to  be  recovered,  reinstated  in  the  enjoyment  ot 
forgiveness,  learning  from  the  past  the  path  of 

safety  for  the  future.     But  when  a  worldling  sina 
6^« 


130  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

lie  remains  in  it,  wallows  in  it,   delights  in  it, 
feels  it  to  be  his  joy.      When  a  man  is  cast  into 
tlie  sea,  he  escapes  from  it  as  fast  as  he  can,  he 
cannot  live  in  it,  it  is  not  his  element,   and  he 
would  not  be  there  if  he  could  escape  from  it. 
So  with  the  Christian  who  is   led  into  sin,  ii  is 
not  his  element,  he  hates  it,  he  shrinks  from  it, 
and  he  cannot  continue  there,  it  is  not  the  ele- 
ment made  for  him,  nor  he  made  for  it.     And  in 
the  next  place,  it  is  a  happy  kingdom.      After 
all,  Christians  are   the  happiest   men.     And  it 
would  be   very  strange  if  God  were  to  make 
worldlings  happy,  and  leave  Christians  sad.     It 
has  always  appeared  to  me  that  the  only  happy 
man  upon  earth  must  be  a  Christian,  and  if  he 
be     not   happy,    do    not   say    Christianity    is    a 
gloomy   thing,  and  preaching  evangelical   reli- 
gion makes  men  miserable,  but  "  These  men  have 
not  seized  its  grand  and  salient  truths,  and  have 
not  yet  become  thoroughly  impressed   with    its 
sanctifying  and  its  ennobling  influence." 

Lastly,  there  is  the  kingdom  of  glory,  on  which 


A   MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  \^\ 

I  cannot  dwell.  When  all  kingdoms  that  oppose 
themselves  shall  be  beaten  down,  the  kingdom  of 
Mammon  craving  for  supremacy  shall  be  utterly 
destroyed,  the  kingdom  of  Antichrist  shall  sink 
like  a  millstone  in  the  deep  sea,  and  no  more  be 
heard  of  at  all.  The  kingdom  of  Mahomet  shall 
disappear,  already  waning  and  almost  extinguish- 
ed from  Europe.  The  kingdom  of  Satan  shall 
come  to  an  end,  the  Jews  shall  be  gathered  home 
to  their  own  land,  and  to  the  god  of  Abraham,  of 
Isaac,  and  of  Jacob.  Those  bodies  that  we  de- 
posit in  the  grave  to  be  kept  and  treasured  there, 
united  to  Christ  till  the  resurrection,  we  shall 
come  back  from  heaven  to  receive  again,  and  put 
on  these  bright  shrines  for  glorious  souls,  as  tro- 
phies of  what  redeeming  love  has  done  and  what 
the  Cross  has  purchased.  And  there  shall  be  at  the 
last  day  not  a  handful,  not  a  solitary  few,  but  a 
mighty  multitude  that  no  man  can  number,  out 
of  every  nation,  and  people,  and  kindred,  and 
tribe  and  tongue.  Death  shall  be  destroyed,  his 
very  footprints  shall  be  effaced  from  the  earth. 


132  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

Graves  shall  cease.  There  shall  be  no  more  sacra- 
ments, for  we  need  no  symbols  where  the  original 
is  present.  There  will  be  no  more  prayer,  it  will 
be  translated  into  praise.  There  will  be  no  more 
preaching,  but  we  shall  all  know  even  as  we  are 
known,  and  all  shall  be  taught  of  God  ;  and  all 
nations  shall  be  happy,  and  the  whole  earth  shall 
be  filled  with  His  glory.  Now  it  is  prayer,  "Thy 
kingdom  come  ; "  then  it  will  be  the  anthem  peal, 
"  Hallelujah  !  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigueth. 
The  kingdom  is  come."  Meantime,  the  slave  toil- 
ing in  the  mines  cries,  "Thy  kingdom  come." 
The  poor  over-wrought  needle-woman,  working 
from  early  on  Saturday  morning,  often  till  early 
on  Sunday  morning,  to  minister  to  the  thought- 
lessness of  the  fasliionable  few,  cries,"  Thy  king- 
dom come."  Tlie  nations  groaning  under  war, 
earth  torn  by  artillery,  the  sea  ploughed  by 
hostile  fleets,  all  nature  groaning  and  travailing 
in  pain,  longing  to  be  delivered,  lifts  up  one 
piercing  prayer,  "  Tiiy  kingdom  come."  And  it 
will  come,  and  God  will  be  glorified,  and  earth 


A  MISSIONARY  DESIRE.  133 

will  be  happy,  and  all  things  restored  to  more 
than  their  original  glory,  and  the  King  shall  reign 
aud  prosper  over  all  the  earth. 

The  last  and  only  possible  universal  empire 
approaches— the  waters  of  sin  ebb  daily— the 
first  rays  of  the  morning  sun  gild  the  mountain- 
tops  with  rosy  light— the  cries  of  six  thousand 
years  are  about  to  be  answered— out  of  chaos 
will  emerge  an  image  of  beauty  and  glory,  such 
as  heaven  never  saw  and  earth  never  beheld. 

"  O  Thou  ever  begotten  light  and  perfect  Image 
of  the  Father,  come  out  of  Thy  royal  chamber. 
O  Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth,  put  on  the 
visible  robes  of  Thy  Imperial  Majesty— take  up 
Thy  unlimited  sceptre,  for  the  voice  of  Thy 
Bride  calls  Tliee,  and  all  creatures  sigh  to  be 
delivered." 


131  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 


V. 


A  SUBMISSIVE  HEART. 
"  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth,  as  it  is  in  heaven. — Matt.  ri.  10. 

I  STATED  in  my  first  discourse  upon  the  open- 
ing address  of  this  most  sublime,  yet  simple, 
Prayer, — so  sublime  that  the  highest  suint  may 
still  study  it,  and  yet  so  simple  that  the  youngest 
child  may  learn  it, — that  it  begins  first  of  all  in 
one  Gospel  with  "After  this  manner  pray,"  lest 
we  should  suppose  that  in  the  words  there  was 
inherent  that  virtue  which  is  only  in  the  name  of 
Him  in  whom  they  are  pi'esented.  But  in  an- 
other Gospel  it  is  given,  "  When  ye  pray,  say," 
teaching  us  that  the  words  have  their  value,  that 
they  are  so  appropriate,  so  expressive,  because  in- 
spired ;  Jiat  better  words  wo  do  not  need,  simpler 
ones  we  cannot  conceive:  and,  therefore,  to  use 
this  Prayer  in  the  public  assoinblies  of  the  people 


A  SUBMISSIVE  HEART.  I35 

of  God,  seeing;  a  duty  clearly  inferred  from  what 
onr  blessed  Lord  lias  said.  I  noticed  in  the  next 
place  its  opening  ;;ddress,  "Father,"  the  great 
restoration  of  our  sonship  as  children,  and  His 
relationship  as  a  Father.  But  lest  we  should  be 
selfish  it  is  "  Ou?'  Father,"  the  ftitherhood  of 
God,  the  grandest  revelation  in  Christ  Jesus,  the 
brotherhood  of  all  believers,  the  necessary  infer- 
ence from  it,  and  therefore  "  Our  Father."  I 
noticed  also  "In  heaven,"  teaching  us  that 
heaven  is  our  ultimate,  our  common,  and,  thanks 
be  to  God,  our  certain  home.  The  fatherhood 
of  God,  the  brotherhood  of  all  believers,  the 
same  common  and  happy  home,  opening  its 
everlasting  gates  to  receive  the  wjrst  and  the 
oldest  that  flee  to  that  Father  in  the  name  of  the 
one  Saviour,  breathing  in  the  spirit  of  adoption, 
"  Abba,  Father,  Our  Father  in  heaven."  I  then 
noticed  how  the  three  petitions  that  follow  seem 
almost  to  contain  a  shadow  of  a  Triune  Jeho- 
vah. "  Hallowed  be  thy  name,"  the  Father ; 
"  Thy  kingdom  come,"  Christ  the  King  ;   "  Thy 


136  TEACH  us  TO  PRAY. 

will  be  done  in  us,"  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  us  ;  "Thy  will  be  done  in  earth  even  as  it  is 
done  in  heaven."  I  noticed  too  the  interesting 
thought  thut  the  text,  "  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of 
God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  other  things 
will  be  added,"  is  here  unfolded  in  the  daily 
prayer  that  Christians  are  taught  to  use.  The 
Christian  begins  first  by  recognizing  what  is  due 
to  God,  before  he  ventures  to  ask  what  is  need- 
ful for  himself.  He  begins  by  saying,  "Our 
Father,  hallowed  first  of  all  be  thy  name  ;"  next, 
"Thy  kingdom  come;"  next,  "Thy  will  be 
done;"  then,  "Give  us  our  daily  bread,  forgive 
us  our  sins,  lead  us  not  into  temptation."  I 
noticed  also  the  interesting  thought  that  we 
have  first  of  all  the  riches  and  fulness  of  God, 
we  have  last  of  all  the  emptiness  and  necessities 
of  the  creature.  "  Our  Father,  thy  kingdom, 
tJty  name,  thy  will,"  that  is  the  fulness  of  God. 
Then,  secondly,  our  wants,  "  Give  us,  forgive  w<s, 
lead  us  not  into  temptation,  deliver  xcs  from 
evil."      God  all  fulness,  the  creature  all  wants  ; 


A  SUBMISSIVE  HEART.  137 

that  fulness  ready  to  be  poured  into  every  want, 
till  our  hearts  ai'e  filled  with  grace,  and  finally 
with  glory. 

In  this  lecture  we  would  meditate  on  the  clause, 
"  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth  as  it  is  done  in 
-heaven."  There  is  a  great  distinction  we  are 
prone  to  overlook  in  thinking  of  the  will  of  God. 
There  is,  first  of  all,  His  will  carried  out  in  the 
phrase,  "  It  shall  be ;"  there  is,  secondly.  His 
will  embodied  in  the  phrase,  "  It  ought  to  be." 
There  is  first  of  all  His  will  embodied  in  His 
decrees,  known  to  Himself  in  His  secret  purposes, 
unfolded  faintly  in  His  ancient  inspired  prophe- 
cies ;  and  this  will  must  be,  and  shall  be,  carried 
into  absolute  execution.  There  is,  secondly.  His 
will  embodied  in  His  precepts,  His  command- 
ments, His  invitations,  as  these  are  scattered 
throughout  the  Gospel ;  and  this  is  what  we  are 
to  obey,  and  what  we  pray  may  be  carried  out 
on  earth,  as  it  is  now  carried  out  in  heaven. 
The  first  shall  be  in  spite  of  all  opposition,  how- 
ever formidable   or   great,    the    other   is    what 


138  TEA  CII  US  TO  PRA  Y. 

ought  to  be,  and  to  which  we  respond  emphati- 
cally when  we  say,  "Thy  will  be  done  in  earth, 
as  it  is  in  heaven."  The  first  we  need  not  help 
God  to  fulfil.  He  retains  to  Himself  the  awful 
prerogative  of  purposing,  and  He  retains  with 
that  the  sublime  prerogative  of  performing  what 
He  has  purposed.  But  the  second,  or  God's  will 
as  it  is  expressed  in  His  law,  His  invitations,,His 
precepts.  His  command  uents.  He  asks  us,  first 
for  His  glory  and  next  for  our  good,  to  carry  out 
into  practical  development,  and  day  by  day  to 
pray  that  this  will,  as  expressed  in  every  law  in 
the  Decalogue,  as  embodied  in  every  page  of 
the  Bible,  may  be  so  carried  out  that  earth  shall 
become  the  facsimile  of  heaven,  and  the  light 
of  one  the  reflection  of  the  glory  of  the  other ; 
and  this  island  of  ours,  called  the  earth,  on  which 
we  stand,  shall  bo  re-knit  to  the  great  continent 
of  heaven  from  which  it  was  broken  off",  and 
there  shall  be  one  kingdom  and  one  King,  and 
His  name  one,  over  heaven  and  earth.  In  refer- 
ence to  the  first  definition  I  have  given  of  God's 


A  SUBMISSIVE  HEART.  139 

will  as  it  shall  be,  in  contradistinction  to  God's 
will  as  it  ought  to  be,  or  God's  will  in  His  own 
jnirpose,  in  contradistinction  to  God's  will  as  it 
is  revealed  in  His  precepts,  I  would  refer  to  such 
passages  as  these  as  the  evidence  of  the  existence 
of  such  a  distinction.  For  instance,  "  Who  hath 
resisted  his  will."  Again,  "  He  worketh  all 
things  after  the  counsel  of  his  own  will."  And 
again,  "  If  we  ask  anything  according  to  His 
will,"  that  is,  His  purpose,  "he  heareth  us." 
These  and  similar  expressions  denote  a  sove- 
reignty in  God,  an  everlasting  will  and  purpose 
that  will  be  fulfilled,  in  carrying  out  which  He 
controls  some  things,  restrains  others,  and  sanc- 
tions many.  The  second  idea  of  God's  will,  or, 
as  I  have  expressed  it,  what  it  ought  to  be,  as  it 
is  embodied  in  precepts  and  laws,  is  indicated 
in  such  texts  as  these.  "  Whosoever  shall  do  the 
will  of  God,"  that  is.  His  revealed  will.  "  Do- 
ing the  will  of  God  from  the  heart."  "  To  will 
and  to hIo  of  his  good  pleasure.  "Filled  with 
all  knowledge  of  God's  will."     We  see  then  two 


140  lEACn  us  TO   PRAY. 

classes  of  thonglit  in  tlie  expression  "  will,"  one 
series  of  expressions  indicating  a  will  inscrutable 
I)}'  us,  but  fixed,  permanent,  and  purposed  by  God; 
anothei' a  series  of  expressions  indicating  a  M'ill 
revealed  to  us,  and  which  we  are  called  upon,  as 
possessed  of  the  revelation  of  it  and  responsible 
thereby,  to  seek  to  carry  out.  God's  will  in  His 
purposes,  and  prophecies,  so  far  as  it  is  revealed, 
is  carried  out  by  rational  and  irrational  beings, 
by  good  men  and  by  bad  men  ;  by  lightning  and 
tempest  and  storm ;  by  sin  and  even  Satan  him- 
self: God  thus  using  the  bad  and  sanctifying  the 
good  ;  and  making  all  things  work  together  and 
conspire  to  evolve  what  will  be  the  ultimate  issue 
of  all — glory  to  His  name  and  salvation  to  the 
greatest  number.  God's  will,  as  revealed  in  His 
law,  is  addressed  to  rational,  responsible,  and  in- 
telligent beings  only,  who  have  a  moral  faculty 
capable  of  knowing  law,  and  a  sense  of  respon- 
sibility for  obedience  or  disobedience  to  that  law. 
Let  us  keep  in  view  this  great  distinction  in 
studying  the  clause  of  this  Prayer,  ''Thy  will  bo 


A  SUBMISSIVE  HEART.  141 

done  in  earth,  as  it  is  in  heaven."  When  Ave 
in-ay  that  God's  will,  as  embodied  and  expressed 
in  His  own  purposes,  may  he  done,  we  mean  that 
we  may  have  patience,  resignation,  submission, 
meekness,  whilst  he  is  carrying  it  out.  Regrets 
at  dispensations  we  cannot  avert  are  useless; 
fears,  doubts,  and  murmurings  are  sinful.  And 
in  proportion  as  we  repine,  murmur  or  complain, 
at  what  is  clearly  the  will  of  God,  we  so  far  give 
evidence  that  we  cherish  in  the  depths  of  our 
hearts  this  tei-rible  prayer,  "  not  Thy  will,  but  my 
will  be  done  on  earth."  Whilst  there  is  felt  all 
this  meekness,  patience,  submission,  there  need 
not  be  insensibility,  which  would  not  be  human ; 
there  need  not  be  pusillanimity,  which  would  not 
be  manly.  On  the  contrary,  we  shall  find  in  the 
greatest  men  who  have  shed  the  lustre  of  their 
deeds  upon  the  world  through  which  they  have 
passed,  a  combination  of  great  meekness  and  for- 
bearance, an  absence  of  all  pretension ;  and  yet  a 
heroism  that  quails  not  in  the  greatest  peril,  and 
a  courao-e   that   slirinks   not  from   the   noblest 


142  TEACH  US  TO  riiAY. 

acliieveinents.  The  Apostle  Paul,  than  whom  a 
more  heroic  spirit  never  lived,  when  he  saw  God's 
will  clearly  indicated  as  God's  absolute  purpose, 
said,  "Now  I  go  bound  to  Jerusalem,  not  knowing 
what  shall  befall  me;  neither  count  I  nij  life 
dear ;  bonds  and  imprisonment  await  me  ;"  here 
was  perfect  submission,  patience,  and  acquies- 
cence. N"or  was  there  wanting  what  was  fitted 
to  disturb  his  mind.  He  was  in  perils  by  land, 
in  perils  by  sea,  in  perils  among  false  brethren, 
in  perils  among  wild  beasts,  and  in  prison.  Yet 
his  spirit  never  quailed  in  the  least  degree  in  the 
heat  and  burden  of  the  heaviest  trial  to  which 
that  magnanimous  apostle  was  subjected.  If  we 
cannot  labor  and  thus  evince  our  devotedness 
to  God,  we  can  at  least  endure.  The  missionary 
is  carrying  out  God's  will  by  labor;  the  sick 
Christian  on  a  sick  bed  is  equally  carrying  out 
God's  will  by  patience,  meekness,  and  resigna 
tion.  It  is  not  the  most  successful  laborer  in  the 
vineyard  tliat  most  thorouglily  carries  out  God's 
•will;  but  it  is  the  most  patient  sufferer  in  the 


A  SUBMISSIVE  HEART.  143 

shadow  of  affliction,  or  amid  sorrow  and  trial, 
who  no  less  glorifies  God  and  prays  fervently. 
"  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth  as  it  is  done  in 
heaven." 

Let  me  in  the  view  of  the  first  aspect  of  God's 
will — namely.  His  will  expressed  in  His  purpose 
— ask,  Are  you  bereaved  of  some  one  to  whom 
you  were  deeply  and  tenderly  attached  ?  Has 
that  relative  yielded  to  pining  sickness,  or  fallen 
on  the  field  of  battle?  It  was  no  accident;  it 
was  not  an  intrusion  unin eluded  in  God's  econo- 
my or  unknown  in  God's  purposes ;  in  some  shape 
that  bereavement  was  a  link  in  the  chain  that 
knits  a  world  that  is  gone  away  to  that  throne  to 
which  it  will  be  recalled  :  and  it  is  as  impossible 
that  it  could  have  been  otherwise  as  that  God 
should  leave  His  throne  and  resign  the  world  to 
the  government  of  another.  And  therefore  when 
that  loss  occurred,  however  painful,  poignant, 
and  bitter — and  you  would  not  be  human  if  you 
did  not  so  feel  it, — you  must  say,  as  the  mother 
said  of  old,  "  It  is  well ;  well  for  me,  though  I 


-J 


14:4:  TEACH  us  TO  FRAY. 

cannot  see  it ;  well  for  the  departed."  In  tlie 
blank  which  the  lost  one  has  left  behind  you 
can  now  pray  with  deeper  fervor,  "  Lord,  our 
Father,  thy  will  be  done  in  earth,  as  it  is  done 
in  heaven."  Or  are  you  at  this  moment  almost 
ruined  by  some  great  calamity  ?  Have  you  been 
deprived  of  the  estate  you  had  accumulated  by 
years  of  toil  and  of  labor  ?  Have  your  hopes 
been  disappointed ;  has  your  confidence  been 
betrayed ;  have  your  expectations  been  deceived ; 
and  are  you  constrained  to  say,  like  the  motlier 
of  old,  "  I  went  out  full  and  the  Lord  hath 
brought  me  home  empty  ;  the  Lord  hath  testi- 
fied against  me,  and  the  Almighty  has  afflicted 
me  ? "  What  has  liappened  to  you,  however  pain- 
ful, is  the  formula  in  which  God  is  pleased  to 
carry  out  His  will  in  your  case.  You  cannot 
penetrate  the  mystery  of  it ;  you  cannot  compre- 
hend the  why,  the  wherefore,  or  the  whereto  ;  and 
it  would  be  strange  if  the  finite  could  compre- 
liend  the  infinite.  But  it  is  a  delightful  tliought, 
tliat  what  you  know  not    now  j'ou  shall   know 


A  SUBMISSIVE  HEART.  145 

hereafter:  and  that  impenetrable  mystery,  that 
strange  dispensation,  which  becomes  more  per- 
plexing the  more  varied  the  aspect  in  which  you 
view  it,  and  more  painful  the  more  thoroughly 
you  comprehend  its  consequences  was  God's 
will ;  it  was  carried  out,  under  His  eye  ;  it  is 
best  that  it  should  be.  Though  painful  it  must 
be,  and  though  we  cannot  explain  it,  we  can 
still  pray,  and  prayer  unloads  the  heaviest  heart 
— "Thy  will  be  done  in  earth,  as  it  is  done 
in  heaven."  God  gives  us  health,  strength, 
life,  blessings,  not  as  a  freehold  but  as  a  lease- 
hold ;  and  He  reserves  to  Himself  the  preroga- 
tive of  cutting  short  the  lease  when  and  where 
and  how  He  pleases.  And  blessed  thought! 
when  He  takes  away,  He  takes  not  as  a  robber 
that  which  is  mine,  but  as  a  proprietor  that 
which  is  His  own.  When  He  takes  what  I  cher- 
ish most  deeply.  He  takes  but  what  He  gave 
freely  ;  and  therefore  we  can  say,  not  only  in 
the  language  of  this  beautiful  Prayer,  but  in 
the  words  of  the  patriarch,  amid  the  dim  twi- 


14G  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

light  of  an  earlier  dispensation,  "  The  Lo'  d  gave, 
and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away  ;  blessed  be  the 
name  of  the  Lord."  I  do  not  deny  that  it  is 
natural  to  feci.  It  is  a  mistake  to  confound  in- 
sensibility with  great  faith,  or  poignant  sorrow 
with  want  of  faith.  The  truest  Christian  may 
feel  the  most  acutely.  Pain,  sorrow,  grief,  at 
bereavement  and  losses,  are  part  and  parcel  of 
what  we  call  human  nature.  To  ask  a  person 
not  to  weep  at  the  loss  of  the  nearest  and  dear- 
est, or  not  to  be  cast  down  when  amid  the 
wrecks  of  all  that  shone  around  him  once  so 
brilliant,  is  to  bid  him  turn  his  heart  into  granite 
or  his  nerves  into  iron,  and  cease  to  be  man. 
Tliere  is  far  more  common  sense  in  what  an 
Apostle  says,  when  he  bids  you  "  weep,  but  as 
though  you  wept  not ;  and  rejoice,  but  as  tliough 
you  rejoiced  not;  and  use  the  world" — use  it; 
not  be  monks,  ascetics ;  not  deny  yourselves  the 
enjoyment  of  the  blessings  God  has  given  you  ; 
but  use  the  world,  only  "not  abusing  it;  for  tlie 
fashion  of  the  world  passeth  away."     What  a 


A   SUBMISSIVE  HEART.  147 

magnificent  citadel  of  strength,  justified  by  tlie 
deepest  and  the  truest  sense  of  man,  is  that 
blessed  book,  the  Bible.  Between  the  epicurism 
that  says,  "Eat,  drink,  and  be  merry,  and  to 
excess ;  for  to-morrow  we  die  ;"  and  the  ascetic- 
ism which  says,  "  Leave  the  great  their  position, 
the  rich  their  wealth,  the  learned  their  learning  ; 
and  be  a  monk,  a  nun,  and  live  in  a  cell  or 
a  monastery;"  the  Bible  decides.  You  are  nei- 
ther to  join  the  stye  in  which  the  swine  of  Epi- 
curus wallow ;  nor  are  you  to  enter  the  ascetic 
retreat  in  which  the  followers  of  Antichrist  foster 
pride,  ambition,  and  quarrelsome  temper,  whilst 
seemingly  denying  themselves  in  other  tilings  ; 
but  you  are  to  weep  as  though  you  wept  not, 
and  rejoice  as  though  you  rejoiced  not,  and  pos- 
sess as  though  you  had  not ;  and  use  the  world, 
not  cast  away  the  world,  only  remembering  that 
you  abuse  it  not,  for  its  fashion  speedily  passeth 
away. 

Thus  we  learn  to  pray,  under  all  the  circum- 
stances to  which  1  have  referred,  "Thy  will  be 


148  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

done  on  eartli  ;"  and  jet  this  does  not  imply  we 
are  to  liave  no  feeling.  Periiaps  the  best  illustra- 
tion of  this  is  in  one  single  text,  the  ehoi-test  in 
the  Bible,  but  the  most  significant,  "  Jesus  wept." 
Tears  are  holy  ;  sorrow  is  thus  consecrated  ;  His 
tender  spirit  has  sounded  its  depths  ;  He  is  our 
sympathising  High  Priest,  able  to  succor  them 
that  are  in  trial  ;  for  he  Himself  was  tried  in  all 
points  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin.  Let  us 
cease  to  argue  and  begin  to  acquiesce  ;  and  our 
tears  not  forbidden  will  be  dried,  and  our  sr»rrows 
not  sinful  will  be  healed.  Or  to  [>ut  it  in  another 
form,  are  you  at  this  moment  in  some  circum- 
stances of  peril?  Is  some  one  in  whom  you  are 
deeply  interested  exposed  to  peril  ?  Aid,  assist, 
minister  with  unwearied  hand,  and  with  an 
attention  that  never  flags  and  a  sympathy  that 
never  fails  ;  but  yet  look  higher.  Have  you  at 
this  moment  a  parent,  a  brother,  a  husband, 
amid  darkening  scenes  where  tragedy  seems  to 
follow  traged}',  as  if  there  were  some  mystery 
that  we  can  neither  unravel,    nor  exj^lain,    nor 


_J 


A  SUBMISSIVE  UEART.  149 

carry  to  a  triiunpliant  close '^     Do  not  be  afruid, 
do    not   cease   to  feel ;  but  still  cast  your  care 
upon  Him  who  cares  for  you.     Here  is  the  only 
light  in  the  midst  of  all ;  God's  will  is  carrying 
out.     The   process   may  be  a  terrible  one  ;  the 
expenditure  awful ;  the  losses  beyond  all  arith- 
metic to  calculate,  or  all  words  adequately  to 
ex-press :  we  know  not  what  He  doth  now  ;  but 
I  have  not  the  least  doubt,  we  shall  know.     His 
is  a  mighty  hand  that  none  can  resist ;  but,  oh 
blessed  thought !  it  is  a  loving  hand  that  none 
should  fear,  suspect,  or  shrink  from,  even  when 
we  cannot  understand  the  why  and  the  where- 
fore of  its   action.     It    is   quite    true    that    this 
thought,  this  deep  thought,  of  God's  will  being 
carried  out,  does  not  turn  shadow  into  sunshine  ; 
it   will   not   replace   in   the  deserted  home  the 
appearance    that   tilled   it   as    with   music,   and 
liirhted  it  with  sunshine.     It  is  true  it  will  not 
reverse   the  past,  or  bring  back  them  that  are 
gone  ;  it  does  not  dilute   the   intensity  of  your 
sorrow ;  but  it  does  take  the  sting  from  it.     It 


150  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

does  nrit  extinguisli  your  feelings,  Init  it  quells 
the  corroding  fever,  it  lays  the  beatings  of  tlie 
anxious  heait ;  it  shows  you  that  submission  is 
service  to  God,  when  you  freely  and  heartily 
render  it.  When  Aaron  saw  his  two  sons  struck 
dead  for  their  crimes,  it  is  most  eloquently  writ- 
ten, "  He  held  his  peace."  When  Moses,  fir  one 
rash  word  at  the  smiting  of  the  rock  at  Meribah, 
was  told  he  could  not  enter  the  bind  of  eartlily 
promise,  he  neither  murmured  nor  i-epined,  but 
submitted.  And  when  Job  lieard  of  shock  thunder- 
ing on  shock,  and  calamity  treading  on  the  heels 
of  calamity,  he  held  fast  his  faith,  and  refused  to 
give  up  his  trust.  When  Stephen  saw  rushing  on 
him,  to  stone  him  to  death,  those  he  had  tried  to 
benefit,  he  prayed  for  them.  And  the  Great  Cap- 
tain of  the  faith  offered  as  His  first  prayer,  "  Fath- 
er, forgive  them."  "  Let  us  run  with  patience  the 
race  that  is  set  before  us,  looking  unto  Jesus,  the 
author  and  the  finisher  of  our  faith  ;  who  for  the 
joy  set  before  him  endured  the  cross,  despising  the 
shame  ;  and  is  now  set  down  at  the  riglit  hand  of 


A  SUBMISSIVE  HEART.  \^\ 

God."  "Wliat  comforts  us  in  tlie  thought  of  all 
this  is,  that  all  the  predictions  contained  in  Scrip- 
ture are  not  one  of  them  impeded  in  their  march 
a  single  day  by  the  most  powerful  opposition  the 
most  depraved  can  offer.  God's  purpose  is,  "  The 
whole  earth  shall  be  filled  with  my  glory  ;  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  mine."  Sin 
shall  be  expunged,  Satan  shall  be  cast  out ;  the 
sleeping  dead  shall  be  quickened  ;  the  waking 
living  shall  be  changed  ;  and  the  whole  earth  shall 
be  filled  with  His  glory.  And  what  seems  to  us 
an  obstruction  we  shall  find,  by  experience  and  by 
patient  waiting,  to  have  been  an  impulse. 

Pharaoh,  the  Egyptian  autocrat  of  old,  resolv- 
ed to  hold  fast  the  prisoners  of  hope  in  the  dun- 
geons and  the  slave-quarries  of  Egypt.  He  seemed 
to  have  all  his  own  way  for  a  season.  But  what 
was  the  actual  fact.  That  slavery,  M^ith  the  auto- 
crat presiding  over  it,  was  but  the  dark  back 
ground  of  a  magnificent  panorama,  revealing  on  its 
outspread  face  the  sea  cloven  in  twain, — the  rock 
giving  forth  water, — Israel  marching  in  triumph- 


152  TEACH  US  TO  TRAY. 

ant  exodus  to  Canaan  ;  and  lastly,  finding  them- 
selves in  the  rest  on  earth  that  awaited  the  peo- 
ple of  God.  When  we  look  al)road  now  npon 
what  is  taking  place  on  the  earth,  we  are  often 
tempted  to  doubt,  to  fear,  or  to  fancy  that  some- 
thing has  gone  wrong.  In  the  great  Kevolution 
of  1793,  good  men  and  holy  men  came  rashly  to 
the  conclnsion  that  God  had  given  up  the  world 
to  Satan  and  to  sin.  Bat  the  issues  have  proved 
it  was  all  the  reverse.  And  now  "  wars  and  ru- 
mors of  wars  "  that  come  thuuderino;  on  every 
breeze  ;  the  restlessness  that  we  see  in  our  own 
country  and  elsewhere,  as  if  the  vibrations  of  the 
great  earthquake  i)f  1848  were  not  yet  laid, — that 
exhaustion  of  social  confidence,  that  failure  of 
trust  in  those  in  whom  we  were  wont  implicitly 
to  repose  it,  that  darkening  of  the  future  yet 
deeper  and  deeper ;  those  perplexities  and  diffi- 
culties felt  and  expressed  by  our  leading  men  in 
the  high  places  of  the  land  ;  those  beginnings  of 
sorrows  painful  to  be  borne,  and  terrible  to  con- 
template, that  few  proplresied,  and  which   they 


A  SCBMISSIFE  HEART..  I53 

that  predicted  seemed  to  others  exceeding  what 
was  possible  or  probable ;  all  nevertheless  the 
march  of  events  to  a  glorious  issue  ;  were  included 
in  the  grand  programme  of  eternity,  and  embraced 
in  the  original  purpose  of  God.  AVe  cannot  alter 
them,  we  cannot  improve  them,  but  we  can  pray 
as  we  witness  them,  "  Our  Father,  thy  will  be 
done  in  earth,  even  as  it  is  done  in  heaven." 

Let  us  look  at  this  clause  in  another  aspect. 
We  are  at  this  moment,  perhaps,  laboring  in  the 
ministry,  or  acting  in  some  religious  society,  or  in 
some  way  trying  to  win  souls.  Do  we  see  no  suc- 
cess attending  our  labors  ;  no  blessing  descend 
upon  them  ?  Do  we  see  those  to  whom  we  looked 
up  fail  us  ?  prospects  that  shone  in  the  distant  hori- 
zon once,  obscured  and  darkened  now  ?  We  are 
not  to  despond,  we  are  not  to  give  up,  we  are 
still  less  to  despair.  It  may  be  God's  great  will 
that  we  should  toil,  harrow,  plough,  weed,  sow — 
very  humble  work ;  and  that  others  who  are  to 
come  after  us  should  carry  home  their  sheaves 
in  the  glad  harvest  rejoicing.     If  such  l)e  God's 


154:  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

will,  Ave  must  mind  the  duty  that  devolves  upon 
us,  however  arduous  it  may  be  ;  and  rejoice  that 
others  will  enjoy  the  j^riyilege  denied  ns  ;  for  it  is 
still  God's  will  done  on  earth,  even  as  it  is  done 
in  heaven. 

Let  us  now  contemplate  the  second  aspect  of 
this  clause,  or  God's  will  as  it  ought  to  be  car- 
ried out  in  His  precepts,  as  expressed  in  the  pas- 
sages we  have  already  read.  "  If  any  man  will 
do  his  will  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine, 
whether  it  be  of  God."  "This  is  the  will  of 
God,  your  sanctification."  "This  is  the  will  of 
God,  that  ye  believe  in  Jesus  whom  he  hath 
sent."  "  Whoso  will  do  the  will  of  God  is  my 
brother,  and  my  sister,  and  my  mother."  Now 
this  will,  or  what  it  ought  to  be,  i**,  in  our 
attempt  to  fulfil  it,  our  very  highest  happiness. 
God  has  so  linked  allegiance  to  Himself  with 
the  enjoyment  of  happiness  and  peace,  that  you 
never  can  be  happy  in  this  world  without  illus- 
trating and  embodying  in  your  life  what  is  felt 
previously  in   the  heart — obedience  to  the  will 


A  SUBMISSIVE  HEART.  155 

and  commandment  of  God,  And  we  pray  in 
this  Prayer  that  our  lives  may  be  a  transcript 
of  Christ's;  that  His  will  may  dominate  in  onr 
hearts  ;  that  we  may  be  living  epistles,  seen  and 
read  of  all  men ;  that  His  will  may  be  done  in 
us,  through  us,  by  us  ;  and  that  we  shall  wel- 
come what  we  see  to  be  His  will,  whether  it 
come  in  bridal  robes,  clothed  and  radiant  witli 
joy,  or  in  sackcloth  and  weeds  of  woe,  as  at  a 
funeral  procession  ;  not  asking  what  shall  be  the 
issue,  but  satisfied  to  discover  that  what  we  see, 
and  feel,  and,  it  may  be,  lament,  is  the  will  of 
our  Father  in  heaven.  This  will  we  pray  may 
be  done  in  us,  through  ns,  by  us,  as  it  is  done  in 
heaven.  Some,  in  explaining  this,  have  said 
that  this  means,  as  it  is  done  by  angels  in 
heaven.  I  do  not  think  it  relates  to  them.  I 
do  not  find  angels  represented  in  Scrijiture 
in  any  aspect  as  the  models  that  we  are  to 
imitate,  or  their  attainments  as  the  height  and 
pitch  to  which  our  aspirations  are  to  aim.  The 
great  secret  of  much  of  the  evil  that  crept  into 


156  TEACH  US  TO  PR  A  Y. 

the  Christian  Church,  and  overspread  tlie  whole 
of  mediseval  and  Western  Europe,  was  the  idea 
that  angel  life  is  a  model  or  type  of  tlie  life  that 
Christians  are  to  express  and  embody  in  tliis 
world.  "We  are  not  to  imitate  the  angels  :  we 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  angels  as  our  exam- 
ples;  it  is  their  duty  to  minister  to  us;  and 
nowhere  in  Scripture  is  a  model  which  is  not 
imitable  by  us,  and  which  we  ought  not  to  try 
to  imitate,  set  forth  as  the  groat  model  of  Chris- 
tian character.  I  think  the  will  done  in  heaven 
is  by  that  portion  of  the  great  family  of  onr 
Father  whicli  has  now  crossed  the  flood  ;  and 
who  do  that  will  perfectly;  and  which  the  por- 
tion of  that  family  still  left  outside  in  this  outer 
court,  pray  may  be  done  in  us,  through  us,  and 
by  us.  His  frail  family  on  earth,  as  it  is  done  by, 
and  through,  and  with  Tlis  perfect  and  redeemed 
and  ransomed  family  above.  If  we  desire  to 
ascertain  how  they  do  it,  we  have  only  to  o]ien 
that  magnificent,  but  often  neglected  book,  the 
book  of  Revelations  ;  and  there  you  find  "  they 


A  SUBMISSIVE  HEART.  157 

are  before  tlie  throne ;"  that  "  tliey  serve  him 
day  and  night  in  his  temple  ;  they  hunger  no 
more,  neither  thirst  any  more;  they  are  fed  by 
the  Lamb,  they  are  led  to  living  fountains  of 
^vater;  and  all  tears  have  been  wiped  away 
from  their  eyes.  And  they  sing  a  new  song. 
And  these  are  they  which  follow  the  Lamb 
whithersoever  he  goeth.  Li  their  mouth  is 
found  no  guile  ;  they  are  without  fault  before 
the  throne  of  God."  What  we  pray  for,  there- 
fore, is,  that  the  earth  may  become  a  portion  of 
heaven  ;  that  time  may  melt  into  eternity  ;  and 
that  God's  will,  now  done  by  the  redeemed,  the 
justified,  the  sanctified,  the  perfect  above,  may 
be  day  by  day  approximated  to  in  its  perfection 
amid  the  unsanctified  and  the  imperfect  upon 
earth.  But  how  is  it  done  by  them  ?  First,  it 
is  done  perfectly.  Every  precept  is  exhausted 
in  their  obedience  ;  and  all  precepts  from  tlie 
least  to  the  greatest  they  are  living  personations 
of.  In  the  second  place,  His  will  is  done  by 
them   without  ceasing.     "They  serve  him  day 


158  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

.and  night  without  ceasing."  It  is  not  the  obe- 
dience of  passion  but  of  principle ;  it  is  not  an 
impulse  that,  obeyed  to-daj,  exhausts  its  spring, 
and  leaves  them  to  move  off  at  a  tangent  and  in 
another  direction  to-morrow.  It  is  ceaseless. 
And  it  is,  in  the  next  place,  without  a  single  ex- 
ception, interruption,  or  disturbance.  There  is 
there,  we  are  told,  "  a  great  multitude  that  no 
man  can  number,  out  of  every  kindred,  and 
nation,  and  people,  and  tongue."  There  are 
degrees  of  glory  ;  for  "  one  star  differeth  from 
another  star  in  glory."  There  are  diversities 
of  gifts  in  heaven,  and  yet  there  is  no  discord 
in  their  song,  no  shadow  on  their  life,  no  disturb- 
ance in  their  peace,  but  all  God's  will  is  carried 
out  by  all,  in  all  its  details,  with  all  their  might ; 
and  in  the  next  place,  without  reluctance  or  re- 
gret. At  present  we  often  feel — I  admit  it  is 
sinful,  but  it  is  fact — duties  to  be  burdensome, 
deniuls  to  be  painful,  services  to  be  sacrifice.  It 
is  a  yoke  ;  though  it  be  an  easy  one,  it  is  still  a 
yoke.     Christ's  will  is  a  burden,  alight  one  I  ad- 


A  SUBMISSIVE  HEART.  I59 

mit,  but  still  a  burden.  And  the  Christian  feels 
on  earth  that  he  cannot  do  all  that  he  would,  and 
is  obliged  to  say  what  Paul  was  constrained  to 
say,  "  The  good  that  I  would,  I  do  not ;  but  the 
evil  which  I  would  not,  that  I  do."  In  this 
world  a  Christian  is  in  a  cold,  uncongenial,  and 
wintry  clime  ;  exposed  to  the  beating  storms  and 
the  descending  hail,  the  fairest  blossoms  are  fleet- 
est, and  oftenest  nipped  by  unexpected  frosts. 
But  in  that  better  land  he  blooms  no  longer  an 
exotic,  but  indigenous;  he  is  in  his  own  clime, 
amid  the  sunshine  of  his  Father's  house,  in  the 
company  of  them  who  have  passed  with  him 
through  much  tribulation ;  and  there  without  re- 
luctance  and  without  regret,  but  as  the  expres- 
sion of  his  spontaneous  and  instinctive  delight, 
he  bears  fragrant  fruit,  beautiful  to  look  on,  and 
p-lorifvino;  to  that  God  who  has  made  him  what 
he  is.  And  lastly,  there  they  serve  without  end. 
The  service  is  ceaseless ;  they  weary  not,  they 
rest  not ;  by  a  singular  though  apparent  contra- 
diction, "  they  rest  from  their  labors,"    and   yet 


160  TEACH  T'S  TO  PRAT. 

rest  not.  Tlie  song  is  ever  new  because  it  is 
never  exhausted,  the  service  is  ever  sweet  and 
never  sacrifice  ;  and  what  now  we  feel  to  be  in 
some  degree  painful,  self-denjing,  perplexing, 
difficult  to  do,  we  shall  there  feel  to  be  the  in- 
crease of  our  enjoyment,  not  the  exhaustion  or 
the  dilution  of  it. 

Thus  we  pray,  "  Thy  will  be  done  "  in  the 
imperfect  Church  below  day  by  day  increasingly, 
until  it  reach  the  standard  after  which  it  is  done 
in  the  perfect  Church  above. 

The  lessons  we  learn  from  all  this  are  various 
and  precious.  First  of  all,  the  law  binds  in 
heaven  just  as  it  binds  on  earth,  that  is,  the  law 
is  done  in  glory  as  it  is  done  in  the  realms  of 
grace.  Secondly,  this  is  one  of  the  springs  of 
the  happiness  of  heaven,  that  God's  law  is  there 
done  perfectly.  Why  is  the  happiness  of  the 
Christian  imperfect  on  earth  ?  Just  because  his 
heart  is  not  fully  holy  and  his  character  is  not 
yet  perfect.  Why  is  the  happiness  of  the  re- 
deemed in  heaven  perfect  ?  Because  God's  will 
is  there  done  ]>erfecfly. 


A  SUBMISSIVE  HEART.  \Ql 

As  we  look  around  us  how  mucli  there  is  to 
indiice  us  to  pray.  Look  at  the  visible  Church, 
torn  by  disputes,  rent  by  controversies.  What 
ground  for  prayer  that  God's  will  may  be  so  done 
that  this  poor,  darkened,  imperfect,  sinful  Church 
may  yet,  and  that  speedily,  be  developed  into 
what  it  shall  be,  a  glorious  Church,  without  spot, 
or  wrinkle,  or  blemish,  or  any  such  thing.  Look 
abroad  at  the  world  at  this  moment ;  what  dark- 
ness in  its  distant  realms,  what  misery  in  its 
homes,  what  restlessness  amid  its  populations, 
wliat  sufferings  from  the  sword,  what  evidences 
of  poverty,  and  distress,  and  famine,  and  disease, 
and  sorrow,  and  sickness,  and  death  !  And  as  we 
gaze  on  the  sliattered  world  and  upon  its  weep- 
ing tenantry,  are  we  not  instinctively  prompted 
to  pray  from  the  very  depths  of  our  hearts,  "  Thy 
will  be  done  in  earth,  even  as  it  is  done  in 
heaven."  Look  at  the  Moslem,  sensual  and  de- 
based, overspreading  the  loveliest  lands  of  the 
East.  Look  at  the  Russian,  worshipping  a  wooden 
cross  as  his  God,  and  having  no  other  religion 


162  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

than  what  is  material  and  sensuous.  Look  at  the 
Romanist,  giving  to  the  Virgin  Mary  the  place, 
the  honor,  and  the  glory  that  is  due  to  God.  And 
can  we,  as  we  see  such  sorrowful  spectacles,  help 
giving  expression  to  the  prayer,  "  Thy  will  be 
done  here,  even  as  it  is  done  in  heaven !"  Look 
to  Pagan  lands,  to  India,  to  Africa,  to  any  sec- 
tion of  the  globe  that  you  like,  and  our  prayer 
must  still  be,  "  Thy  will  be  done."  And  blessed 
be  His  name,  it  will  be  done.  The  kingdom 
shall  come  ;  His  name  will  be  hallowed.  His  will 
shall  be  done,  the  whole  earth  shall  be  filled  with 
His  glory,  the  prayers  of  David  the  son  of  Jesse 
shall  be  ended  ;  and  the  culminating  glory  of 
this  kingdom  shall  arrive,  and  the  expansion  of 
this  prayer  into  praise  will  come,  when  we  shall 
no  longer  j^ray,  "  Thy  kingdom  come,"  but  v/hen 
we  shall  sing — a  mighty  multitude  that  no  man 
can  number — "  Hallelujah  !  the  kingdom  is  come, 
the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth." 

God's  will  is  clearly  written  out  in  His  Holy 
word — His  will  is  not  yet  translated  into  every 


A  SUBMISSIVE  HEART.  163 

tongue,  phenomenon,  tliought,  mind,  and  heart. 
N'ations  are  everywhere  rising  np  against  it  in 
ignorance  of  it.  But  steadily  His  purposes  pass 
into  facts,  and  in  tlie  shop,  the  school,  the  press, 
the  parliament,  the  Church,  and  the  world.  His 
will  is  developed. 

Bj  and  by  earth  shall  reflect  the  splendor  of 
heaven,  and  men  be  the  representatives  of  God, 
and  the  universe  the  grand  temple  in  which  His 
will  is  felt,  and  sung,  and  done,  for  ever  and 
ever. 


164  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 


Yl. 

THE  CRT  OF  THE  CHILDREN. 
"  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread." — Matt.  vi.  11. 

"  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,"  is  well 
paraphrased  in  tiie  words  of  a  catechism  full  of 
the  soundest  sentiment, — "  Of  God's  free  gift  we 
may  receive  a  competent  portion  of  tlie  good 
things  of  this  life,  and  enjoy  His  blessing  with 
them."  Let  us  ponder  this  clause  in  its  most 
expressive  and  comprehensive  Prayer — a  Prayer 
obligatory  upon  every  section  of  the  Christian 
church,  used  always  in  its  services  of  old,  and 
never  to  be  omitted  now  ;  so  simple  that  a  child 
can  understand  it,  so  rich  in  thought  that  a  dy- 
ing saint  will  still  pray  it,  and  not  to  cease  until 
the  form  of  prayer  has  culminated  into  the  form 
of  praise,   and    all   heaven   and   earth   say,  no 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  165 

longer  with  stammering  lips,  kneeling  at  the 
footstool,  "  Hallowed  be  thy  name,  \\\y  kingdom 
come,  thj  will  be  dune,"  but  when  heaven  and 
earth  standing  before  the  throne  clad  in  wliite 
robes,  with  palms  in  their  hands,  shall  sing, 
"  Thy  name  is  hallowed,  thy  kingdom  is  come, 
thy  will  is  done  in  this  earth,  even  as  it  has  been 
done  in  heaven,  and  now  we  are  fed  with  asking, 
and  forgiven,  that  forgiveness  never  to  be  re- 
pealed or  to  be  revoked  for  ever." 

We  have  prayed  away  in  the  course  of  this 
Prayer  the  terrbr  which  drives  us  from  God  as 
if  he  were  a  tyrant,  when  we  prayed,  and  were 
taught,  we  trust,  by  the  Spirit  to  say,  "  Our 
Father."  We  have  prayed  down  selfishness — 
— that  idolatry  of  self  which  is  all  attention  to 
its  own  wants,  however  tiivial  or  few,  and  all 
inattention  to  the  claims  of  God  and  the  wants 
of  mankind,  however  paramount  and  weighty — 
when  we  were  taught  to  say,  "  Our  Father, 
hallowed  be  thy  name,  thy  kingdom  come." 
We  began    to    pray  first    as   in   heaven,    "Our 


166  TEACH   US   TO   PRAT. 

Father  which  art  in  heaven  ;"  and  next  to  en- 
deavor to  bring  down  a  portion  of  its  glory  ;  we 
now  resume  our  place  upon  the  earth,  and  begin 
to  pray  from  the  earth  to  lieaven  for  the  supply 
of  wants  that  liere  must  be  satisfied,  "Give  us 
this  day  our  daily  bread."  We  soared  upward 
to  heaven  in  adoring  faith,  saying  "  Our  Father 
which  art  in  heaven  ;"  God  comes  down  to  us 
now  in  beneficent  love,  giving  us  daily  bread. 
In  the  first  half  of  the  Prayer  we  sought  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness  first,  in 
the  last  half  of  the  Prayer  all  tliese  things  we 
ask  to  be  added.  The  first  half  is  the  fulness  of 
God,  the  second  half  of  the  Prayer  an  expres- 
sion of  the  wants  and  necessities  of  mankind, 
"  Give  us  tliis  day  our  daily  bread,"  "The  mere 
creature,  unrenewed  in  the  Gospel,  cries  first, 
last,  middle,  and  without  end,  "Give  us  this  day 
our  daily  bread."  For  this  he  toils  every  day, 
for  this  he  prays  continually.  His  anxious  and 
only  query  is  breathed  on  the  streets,  "  What 
shall  I  eat,  what  shall  I  drink,  and  wherewithal 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  167 

shall  I  be  clothed  ?"  Or  he  turns  his  question 
into  prayer,  and  asks  not  for  the  lite  to  came,  for 
of  that  he  dreams  not ;  but  for  this  present  life, 
"Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread."  One  man 
makes  his  daily  bread  his  all.  For  this  he  toils, 
prays,  and  lives.  Another  starves  and  stints, 
and  even  tortures  the  body  with  every  imagin- 
able denial,  refusing  daily  bread,  as  if  this  were 
merit  in  the  sight  of  God.  The  one  is  in  the 
world  and  of  the  world,  a  sensualist  or  an  infi- 
del ;  the  other,  in  order  to  get  out  of  the  world, 
foolishly  flees  from  it,  and  thinks  he  escapes  its 
temptations,  its  perils,  and  its  sins,  by  running 
from  its  duties  and  its  obligations.  The  true 
Christian  neither  idolizes  the  body  by  making 
its  wants  liis  all,  nor  does  he  deny  the  body  what 
are  its  just  and  legitimate  demands.  He  has 
learned  from  God,  "Your  heavenly  Father 
knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  these  tilings." 
He  that  made  the  body  fearfully  and  wonder- 
fully at  the  first,  does  not  refuse  to  provide  for 
it ;  and  he  that  tends  its  sleeping  dust  a  hundred 


108  TEACH  US  TO  FRAY. 

fathoms  in  the  deep,  deep  sea,  or  beneath  the 
green  sod,  will  not  surely  refuse  to  jDrovide  for  it 
daily  bread  while  it  lives  on  earth  in  the  light 
of  heaven,  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  There 
is  a  materialism  that  makes  the  body  all,  there 
is  a  spiritualism  that  would  try  to  live  as  if  we 
had  no  body  at  all.  The  first  is  reprobated  by 
the  Apostle  when  he  says,  "  "Wiiose  God  is  their 
belly,  whose  end  is  destruction  ;"  the  second  is 
reprobated  by  the  same  Apostle  when  he  con- 
demns "  neglecting  the  body,"  as  one  of  the 
brands  of  the  great  Papal  Apostasy.  What 
a  wonderlul  prescience,  what  intense  common 
sense,  what  forethought,  what  evidence  of  inspi- 
ration is  in  this  book!  The  same  holy  writer 
who  reprobates  living  to  the  flesii,  and  for  the 
flesh,  as  if  that  were  man's  chief  end,  no  less 
firmly  reprobates  the  asceticism  of  the  monk, 
the  friar,  and  the  nun,  when  he  denounces, 
"  neglecting  the  body."  What  a  contrjist  to 
both  these  extremes  is  the  conduct  of  the  early 
Christians !      It  is  not  said  of  theui,  they  fasted 


THE  CRY  OF  TUE  ClllLDREN.  16^ 

and  denied  themselves  the  food  that  was  needful 
for  their  efficient  rerviee  to  the  Lord,  nor  is  it 
said,  they  pampered  their  appetites,  and  were 
absorbed  in  cares  about  what  they  should  eat 
and  drink,  and  wherewithal  they  should  be 
clothed ;  but  in  language  simple,  significant, 
and  just,  it  is  written,  "  They  did  eat  their  meat 
with  gladness  and  with  singleness  of  heart." 
We  are  neither  to  fast  like  the  monk  nor  to 
feast  like  the  epicurean,  hut  to  eat  and  drink 
like  the  Christian  ;  and  whatever  we  do,  to  do 
all  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  in  the  light  of  His 
holy  word. 

The  very  first  idea  we  are  taught  here  in  'this 
prayer,  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,"  is 
dependence  upon  God.  How  beautifully  is  this 
expressed  by  the  Psalmist  when  he  says,  "  The 
eyes  of  all  things  wait  on  thee."  What  a 
thought!  "The  eyes  of  all  things  wait  on  thee; 
and  thou  givest  them  their  meat  in  due  season." 
The  sparrow  on  the  house-top ;  the  eagle  on  his 
mountain  eyrie  ;  the  stormy  petrel   careering  on 


lYO  TEACH  us  TO  PRAY. 

the  winds  and  over  the  restless  waves;  tlie  lion 
in  his  native  forest,  making  it  ring  with  the 
eciioes  ot'his  royal  voice  ;  the  watch-dog  baying 
in  the  stillness  of  the  night ;  the  cattle  lowing 
on  a  thousand  hills;  the  bee  humming  in  tlie 
sunsiiine  on  unwearied  wing ;  the  leviathan  of 
the  deep,  the  minnow  in  the  stream,  the  trout  in 
the  brook ;  all  lift  their  eyes  to  God,  and  cry  in 
language  never  unheard,  and  express  wants  never 
refused,  "  Our  Father,  give  us  this  day  our 
daily  bread."  "  The  eyes  of  all  things  wait  on 
thee;  and  thou  givest  them  their  meat  in  due 
season."  Abstractly,  we  all  recognize  this  de- 
pendence upon  God  ;  practically,  I  fear  we  do 
not.  How  often  do  we  find  ourselves,  as  Chris- 
tian men,  attributing  to  second  causes  that 
which  comes  down  a  direct  and  gracious  trans- 
mission from  our  heavenly  Father !  Second 
causes,  as  they  are  called  by  a  very  questionable 
phrase,  are  really  and  truly  the  earliest  emergence 
of  God's  purposes  in  visible  shape.  For  instance, 
the  orbs  must  shine,  winds  must  blow,  rains  must 


TEE  CRY  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  \^\ 

fall,  clouds  must  gather  ;  and  a  whole  series  of 
processes  go  on  in  the  sky  above,  and  in  the  soil 
below,  before  the  harvest  of  next  autumn  can  be 
reaped.  We  attribute  the  golden  harvest  to 
these  processes,  instead  of  attributing  those  pro- 
cesses to  God,  and  giving  Him  alone  all  the  glory 
of  the  harvest.  There  is  no  vitality  in  laws ; 
the  vitality  is  in  the  lawgiver.  And  if  He  is 
pleased  to  work  through  laws,  it  is  just  as  much 
God's  work  as  when  He  acts  without  them. 
When  you  see  the  few  loaves  by  a  word  turned 
into  food  for  five  thousand,  you  say,  "There  is 
God."  But,  God's  footsteps  are  just  as  unmis- 
takeable  in  the  golden  harvest  of  every  year  as 
in  turning  the  few  loaves  into  food  for  five  thou- 
sand. When  you  see  the  water  in  the  jars 
turned  into  wine,  you  say,  "That  is  the  finger 
of  God,"  But  you  are  so  accustomed  to  see  the 
earth,  and  the  rain,  and  the  sunshine  making  the 
vine  flourish,  the  grapes  ripen,  and  the  wine  be 
pressed  out  of  them  to  cheer  man's  heart,  tliat 
you  say,    "This  is  nature;   or   second  causes.'* 


172  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

God  is  in  the  one  as  truly  as  in  the  other;  only  at 
Cana  of  Galilee  he  lifted  the  curtain  and  let  men 
see  it ;  in  the  vines  and  in  the  corn  of  this  year 
He  is  behind  the  scene,  and  you  can  see  the  ef- 
fects only  of  His  action  and  presence. 

But  it  may  be  asked,  and  it  has  been  repeated- 
ly asked  by  many,  Can  this  prayer,  so  suitable  to 
the  poor  man,  who  has  to  toil  for  his  breakfast 
before  he  is  allowed  to  partake  of  it,  be  lifted  up 
as  suitably  by  the  rich  man,  who  has  much  goods 
laid  up  for  many  years  to  come,  whose  barns  are 
full,  while  all  the  good  things  and  the  great  things 
of  this  world  are  at  his  disposal?  This  prayer 
suited  David,  the  shepherd  son  of  Jesse ;  and  it 
suited  no  less  his  own  princely  son  Solomon. 
Job,  when  he  was  the  richest  Emir  of  the 
East,  needed  to  pray  thus ;  Joseph,  with  all  the 
granaries  of  Egypt  at  his  command,  did  also  pray. 
"  Our  Father,  give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread." 
One  act  of  indiscretion,  one  extravagant  specula- 
tion, on  the  part  of  the  rich,  may  sweep  away 
all  the  accumulations  of  a  lifetime.      And  there- 


THE  CRY  OF  THE   CHILDREN.  173 

fore  the  richest  needs  to  pray  that  God  would 
continue  to  him  what  in  the  past  He  has  given 
him— daily  bread.  A  blight  upon  our  harvest,  a 
worm  gnawing  at  the  root,  a  premature  or  unex- 
pected frost,  an  overwhelming  deluge  of  wind, 
and  rain,  and  lightning,  and  tempest,  may  leave 
us  without  bread  for  next  year  ;  and  the  poor  in 
their  hunger  will  lay  their  hands  upon  the  wealth 
of  the  rich  ;  and  the  wealthy  will  feel  amid  the 
horrors  of  such  a  convulsion  that  they  too  needed 
to  pray,  though  they  believed  it  not,  "  Give  us 
this  day  our  daily  bread."  Rich  and  poor  are 
more  bound,  and  tied,  and  linked  together  than 
at  first  sight  appears.  When  the  rich  think 
they  have  only  ground  for  pride  or  for  praise,  and 
none  for  prayer,  they  are  more  to  be  pitied  than 
the  poorest  man  who  earns  his  daily  bread,  and 
lifts  his  daily  litany,  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily 
bread."  But  to  show  that  the  rich  need  to  pray 
this  as  well  as  the  poor,  we  must  not  forget  the 
fact,  that  to  have  bread  is  not  necessarily  to  have 
nourishment.    We  need  not  merely  bread,  but  the 


174  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

power  of  exti'acting  iiutriinent  from  that  bread 
after  we  have  eaten  it.  TJie  poor  pine  frequently 
for  want  of  bread ;  but  the  rich  j^erish  as  frequently 
for  want  of  appetite  to  eat  it.  1  know  not  which 
is  most  to  be  pited — the  poor  man,  who  has  an 
appetite,  and  no  bread  ;  or  the  rich  man,  who 
has  plenty  of  bread,  but  no  appetite,  or  capacity 
of  being  nourished  and  fed  by  it.  Money  can 
purchase  bread  ;  but  all  the  money  of  England 
cannot  purchase  health.  And  if  it  needs  two 
thmgs,  health  within  as  well  as  bread  without, 
that  man  may  live  ;  then  the  richest  and  the 
poorest  nmst  kneel  upon  the  same  dead,  low 
level,  and  cry  with  the  same  fervor,  "  O  Lord, 
our  Father,  give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread." 
We  need  also  the  blessing  with  the  bread,  or  the 
the  bread  will  be  poison  ;  and  that  blessing  will 
make  a  crumb  a  banquet,  withheld  it  makes  a 
banquet  poison;  "for  man  doth  not  live  by 
bread  alone,"  but  by  something  needed  to  give 
that  bread  its  value,  "  by  eveiy  word  that  pro- 
ceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God." 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  175 

Let  us  look  at  this  beautiful  Prayer  in  another 
aspect.  We  have  seen,  first  of  all,  the  expres- 
sion that  runs  througli  it  of  dependence  upon 
God.  We  have  seen,  in  the  second  place,  the 
absolute  need  of  rich  and  poor,  in  all  the  varied 
grades  and  circumstances  of  social  life,  to  breathe 
this  same  prayer,  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily 
bread."  Let  us  look  at  what  is  suggested  by  this 
petition,  one  of  the  most  interesting  thoughts 
contained  in  the  whole  Prayer,  namely,  that  God 
is  here  regarded  as  the  Giver,  "  Give  us  this  day 
our  daily  bread."  The  lirst  and  earliest  thought 
of  God,  which  we  learn  in  the  light  of  the  Gos- 
pel to  renounce,  is  that  He  is  a  hard  taskmaster, 
a  stern  exactor ;  ever  dem(p,nding  duties,  never 
supplying  strength  to  enable  us  to  fulfil  them. 
Our  most  frequent  thoughts  of  God  are  those  of 
one  constantly  commanding  or  exacting ;  rarely 
do  we  clierish  thoughts  of  God  as  of  one  con- 
stantly giving,  and  leaving  the  gift  to  suggest 
wliat  we  owe  to  the  Giver,  in  tlie  shape  of  re- 
sponsive gratitude,  adoration,  and  praise.     If  we 


176  TEACH  US  TO  PR  \Y 

tliink  of  God  always  as  an  exactor,  if  our  last 
and  our  earliest  thoughts  of  Him  are  tliose  of  a 
being  enthroned  on  Sinai,  ever  launching  forth 
the  terrible  command,  "Thou  shalt,  and  thou 
shalt  not,"  instinctively  we  come  to  cherisli  to- 
ward Him  the  feelings  of  slaves ;  we  slirink 
from  His  presence,  we  are  capable  of  no  noble 
and  elevating  obedience  ;  we  walk  with  Him  as 
a  slave  walks  with  his  master  ;  ever  paying  what 
He  is  ever  exacting,  and  never  feeling  towards 
Him  an  emotion  of  gratitude  or  responsive  love. 
But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  we  look  upon  God 
only  as  the  Giver — the  Giver  of  the  greatest 
blessings,  the  greatest  graces,  and  the  sweetest 
oftenest,  and  as  an  exactor  never — our  feelings 
will  soon  swell  into  confidence,  and  gratitude, 
and  joy,  and  adoring  love.  Our  apprehension 
of  God  as  the  giver  is  evangelical,  our  apprehen- 
sion of  God  as  the  exactor  is  essentially  legal. 
If  you  wish  to  render  God  the  noblest  obedi- 
ence, forget  tliat  He  exacts  anytliing;  tliink  that 
He  gives  everything  ;  and  the  gifts  of  God,  like 


TEE    CRY    OF    THE   CHILDREN.  I77 

seeds  deposited  in  the  heart,  will  germinate  and 
grow  up,   and  produce  all  manner  of  precious 
and  t'ragran*:  fruit ;  till  it  is  evinced  that  he  only 
who    entertains    thoughts   of  God   as  a  Father, 
ever  giving,  is  most  holy,  most  bountiful,  most 
just ;  while  he  who  has  thoughts  of  God  as  one 
ever  exacting  und  demanding  duties,  and  never 
giving  blessings,  lives  a  wretched  life,  and  exhi- 
bits a  low  standard  of  obedience.    It  was  he  that 
thought   God   was    a  hard  taskmaster,    reaping 
where  he  had  not  sown,  who  rendered  nothing 
in  return.     It  was  he  who  received  five  talents, 
and  looked  upon  the  master  as  the  great  giver, 
who  multiplied  the  five,  by  diligent  and  labori- 
ous increase,  into  ten.    Let  us  ever  think  of  God 
as  the  giver.    !N'ever  be  afraid  that  this  will  lead 
to  license.     The  legal  way,  if  I  may  use  the  ex- 
pression,  the  way   that  never  was  in  practical 
existence  since  Adam  fell,  is  demanding  of  the 
creature    obedience ;    and    the  result  invariably 
has  been  that  the  natural  heart,  enmity  to  Him, 

has   recoiled   from    Him    and  fled  ;  and  prayed 
8* 


178  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

that  it  might  not  hear  tlie  sound  of  words  any 
more.  But  in  the  Gospel  the  great  idea  of  G<>d 
is  of  one  giving  grace  and  glory,  natural  bread 
and  living  bread;  and  then,  witliout  adding  a 
command,  leaving  it  to  the  creature's  heart, 
thus  enriched  and  blessed,  to  feel  and  count  as 
it  may,  "  How  much  owest  thou  unto  my 
Lord  ?"  And  what  too  is  very  remarkable  in 
this  aspect  of  tliis  interesting  Prayer,  our  own 
idea  of  our  own  relationship  to  God  very  much 
gives  tone  and  coloring  to  our  feelings  in  refer- 
ence to  others.  Man  is  very  much  to  others 
what  his  idea  of  God  is  to  himself.  They  who 
look  upon  God  as  an  exactor  will  exact  most  of 
their  fellows,  and  they  that  look  upon  God  as  the 
bountiful  giver  will  be  first  to  give  most  richly 
and  munificently  to  others.  Hence,  by  a  great 
law,  the  greatest  tyrant  must  necessarily  be  the 
most  irreligious  man;  and  the  greatest  and  tru- 
est philanthropist  must  have  the  root  of  his 
philanthropy  in  true  and  enlightened  Christian- 
ity.    When  men  see  God  as  the  giver  of  all  the^ 


THE  CRY    OF    THE  CHILDREN.  179 

have,  and  the  giver  of  more  than  lie  promised  ; 
the  giver  of  all  tliey  t3njoy  at  the  footstool,  and 
the  giver  of  all   He   has    promised    beside    the 
throne:  their  hearts  are   opened    in   responsive 
gratitude  to  Him,  and  in  rich  and  inexhaustible 
liberality  among  all  mankind.    But  when  we  are 
drilled  and  initiated  in  the  dreadful  idea  that  God 
is   a   severe   taskmaster,    constantly  demanding 
obedience,  but  giving  nothing  wherewith  to  dis- 
charge it,  we  harden  into  the  feeling  and  charac- 
ter of  slaves  towards  Him;  and  in  the  recoil  we 
become    taskmasters    and    tyrants   towards    all 
the  rest  of  maidcind.      So  true  is  it  that  religion 
is  the  cement  of  all  national  and  social  life  ;  so 
true  is  it  that  kings,  and  queens,  and  emperors, 
will  be  gracious  and   merciful,  and  beneficent, 
and  good,  in  the  ratio  in  which  their  minds  be- 
come   enlightened,   and  their  hearts  impressed 
with  true  and  living  religion.    If  you  exact  from 
man  and  give  nothing,  it  is  in  his  very  nature  to 
recoil.    You  insist  bv  your  Parliament  that  man 
shall  hallow  tiie  Sabbath, — a  process,  however. 


180  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

that  will  not  succeed  in  making  him  trr.l}^  do  so, 
— the  poor  man  and  the  nnenliglitened  man  in- 
stantly look  lip  to  the  Parliament  as  exacting 
like  a  hard  taskmaster.  But  if,  when  you  exacted 
obedience  in  hallowing  the  Sabbath,  you  had 
first  given  a  portion  of  the  Saturday,  you  would 
have  found  that  the  gift  of  half  the  Saturday 
would  have  been  so  appreciated  by  the  poor, 
when  they  saw  you  first  as  the  giver,  that  they 
would  have  listened  to  you  as  the  exactor  on 
the  Sunday  of  what  was  right,  and  dutiful,  and 
just.  But  alas,  too  often,  in  Congress,  Cabinet, 
and  Divan,  man  accepts  any  rule  of  life  but  the 
divine  one,  any  precedent  but  the  true  one  ;  yet 
he  always  finds  in  the  long  run  that  the  nearer 
all  legislation  is  conformed  to,  and  catches,  the 
inspiration  of  this  blessed  Book,  the  more  popu- 
lar, practical,  and  useful  it  becomes.  Depend 
upon  it  the  Bible  is  a  thousand  years  ahead  of 
the  19th  century  ;  and  the  19th  century,  with  all 
its  attainments,  a  thousand  years  behind  it. 
Some  one   perhaps  may  be  disposed  to  add 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  Igl 

If  God  be  tlie  giver  of  bread  to  all  His  crea 
tnres,  and  in  that  liglit  we  are  now  to  regard 
Him ;  would  it  not  make  the  gift  still  more  un- 
equivocal, and  the  gratitude  of  the  recipient 
still  more  intense,  if  God  were  to  give  us  always 
bread,  without  requiring  that  we  should  toil  and 
work  for  it?  I  answer,  j^o.  At  first  blush  tliat 
seems  to  you  right ;  on  real  consideration  it  will 
appear  utterly  absurd.  God  did  not  canonize 
indolence  in  Paradise;  for  Adam  and  Eve  were 
appointed  to  toil  ;  when  toil,  however,  was  en- 
jo3"ment,  and  not,  as  it  is  on  this  side  of  Para- 
dise, often  drudgery,  exhaustion,  and  death. 
The  curse  pronounced  upon  man  was,  "  In  the 
sweat  of  thy  brow  shalt  thou  eat  bread."  And 
every  man,  by  a  great  law,  must  work  either  his 
brain,  or  his  hand,  or  his  foot ;  he  must  in  some 
way,  by  a  law  ancient  as  the  earliest  wrecks  of 
Paradise,  earn  his  daily  bread.  But  the  pecu- 
liarity of  Christianity  is  not  that  it  repeals  the 
curse  by  making  it  cease  to  be  ;  but  that  it  over- 
rules the  curse  into  a  richer  and  more  enduring 


182  TEACH  us  TO  FRAY. 

blessing.      And  hence  it  takes  the  toil,  which  in 
its  iirst  stroke,  was  a  cnrse,  and  makes  it  now  to 
be  daily  bread;  to  be  through  Christ,  and   in 
Christ,  and  in  moderation,  a  positive  blessing. 
Do    you    find    men    that   have    nothing    to    do, 
happy  ?      Just  the  reverse.      Their  first  thing  is 
rush   into    strange    speculations,    and    t^uixotic 
schemes,  for  want  of  something  to  do.    And  who 
do  we  find  is  the  happiest  man  ?      The  man  that 
thanks  God  when  he  rises  for  his  rest,  goes  forth 
in  Cod's  strength   to  toil    all    day ;  and  comes 
home  at  night  to  thank  God  again  for  His  pro- 
tecting and  persevering  goodness,  and  to  taste, 
wliat,  depend  upon  it,  the  rich  never  eat,  tlie 
sweetest   bread  on  earth,  that  which   has  been 
earned  by  God's  blessing  upon  the  labor  of  one's 
own  hands.     If  you  were  to  ask  bread  from  God 
without  working  for  it,  it  would  be  equivalent  to 
asking  a  stone,  or  rather  asking  of  Ilim  a  ser- 
pent.    Does   not   all  history  attest    that  it  has 
been  where  man   has  had   most  to  toil,  that  he 
has  attained  the  highet/t  excellence  as  a  social 


THE  CRY  OF   TUB  CHILDREN.  183 

being  ?  Is  it  not  on  rugged  soils,  and  amid  win- 
ter colds,  that  the  noblest  specimens  of  nations 
have  developed  themselves?  It  is  the  devil's 
prescription,  "  Command  these  stones  to  be 
made  bread ;"  it  is  Christ's  declaration,  "  Man 
doth  not  live  by  bread  alone  ;  but  by  every 
word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God." 
And  it  is  therefore  the  Christian's  prayer,  "  Give 
me  wisdom  to  guide  me ;  strength  to  labor, 
health  to  enjoy.  Our  Father,  give  us  this  day 
our  daily  bread." 

"  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread."  This 
word  is  very  remarkable.  It  is  not,  give  us  for 
month,  or  for  this  year,  but  "Give  us  this  day 
our  daily  bread."  It  is  Christ's  command  trans- 
lated into  prayer,  when  He  said,  "Take  no 
thought  for  to-morrow."  The  Greek  word 
means,  carping,  troublesome  thought.  "  Take 
no  thought  for  to-morrow,"  for  to-morrow  will 
take  care  of  itself.  Or,  as  it  is  beautifully 
worded  in  the  very  chapter  from  which  this  text 
is  taken,  "  Behold  the  fowls  of  the  air;   for  they 


184  TEACH  us  TO  PRAY. 

SOW  not,  neitlier  do  they  reap,  nor  gather  into 
barns  ;  yet  your  lieavenly  Father  feedeth  them. 
Are  ye  not  much  better  than  they  ?  And  wliy 
take  ye  thought  for  raiment  ?  Consider  tlie 
liUes  of  the  field,  how  they  grow  ;  they  toil  not, 
neither  do  they  spin  :  and  yet  I  say  unto  you, 
That  even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not 
arrayed  like  one  of  these.  Wherefore,  if  God  so 
clothe  the  grass  of  the  field,  which  to-day  is,  and 
to-morrow  is  cast  into  the  oven,  sliall  he  not 
much  more  clothe  yon,  O  ye  of  little  faith  1 
Therefore  take  no  thought," — no  carping,  irrita- 
ting thought, — "saying.  What  shall  we  eat?  or. 
What  shall  we  driuk?  or,  Wherewithal  shall  we 
be  clothed  ?  for  " — how  beautiful — "  your  heaven- 
ly Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  all  these 
things."  Or  as  it  is  in  one  of  the  Psalms,  "  He 
knoweth  our  frame  ;  he  reraembereth  that  we  are 
dust."  T5ut  you  object,  that  when  one  regards 
it  in  this  light,  it  tends  to  throw  back  all  so- 
ciety into  a  state  of  savagism.  Would  you  wish 
man  to  be  the  fisher  in  the  stream,  the  hunter  ir 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  CHILDREN.  185 

the  woods  ;  dependent  on  the  precarious  success 
for  the  bread  each  day  that  lie  is  to  eat  ?  I 
answer,  No.  This  prayer  destroys  all  anxious 
hoarding,  not  enlightened  forethought.  It  des- 
troys all  improvidence,  not  Christian  prudence. 
It  bids  you  labor  for  bread  and  pray  for  it.  And 
when  there  is  to  day  more  than  you  can  eat,  let 
it  eaten  to-mori-ow,  after  you  have  satisfied  the 
hunger  of  the  needy  and  the  dependent  about 
you;  and  so  doing  you  will  act  in  the  spirit  of 
the  prayer,  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread." 
But  I  reverse  my  reasoning,  and  I  put  the  ques- 
tion to  you,  if  you  object  to  this  as  not  indicating 
that  providence  and  forethought  that  ought  to 
exist  in  what  you  call  a  commercial  country, 
does  your  anxious  care  about  to-morrow  do  you 
any  good  whilst  you  feel  it?  Does  such  anxiety 
about  the  autumn  enable  the  farmer  to  weed  and 
ti)  sow  with  greater  efficiency?  Does  it  make 
the  merchant  more  successful?  Is  it  not  all  the 
reverse  ?  Excessive  anxiety  about  to-morrow  ia 
taking  to-morrow's  burden  and  to-day's  burden 


186  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

that  is,  the  weight  of  two  days,  upon  shoulders 
tliat  are  only  strong  enough  to  bear  one  day's 
load.  Your  anxiety  about  to-morrow,  in  addi- 
tion to  your  inevitable  anxiety  about  to  day,  is 
taking  two  days'  burden  upon  shoulders  fitted 
only  to  bear  the  load  and  pressure  of  one.  And 
instead  of  your  anxious  thoughts  about  yuur 
Christmas  payments,  or  about  next  week's  com- 
mercial bills,  making  you  one  whit  more  able  to 
meet  them,  you  find  you  are  harassing  yourselves 
to-da}',  and  you  are  not  adding  to  your  prepara- 
tions for  next  day.  Whereas,  if  you  toil  to-day 
in  God's  strength,  seeking  daily  bread,  acting 
neither  extravagantly  nor  avariciously,  you  will 
find  that  He  that  sends  to-day's  bread  will  not 
forget  you  to-morrow;  and  that  if  you  are  care- 
ful for  nothing,  but  in  everything  by  prayer  and 
supplication  make  your  wants  known  to  God, 
you  will  neither  have  the  spirit  cf  the  miser,  nor 
the  spirit  of  the  gambler,  nor  the  spirit  of  the 
man  ever  iriitated,  ever  anxious,  and  tlierefore 
never  successful  ;    but   the   spirit   of  him    who 


THE  CRY  OF   THE  CHILDREN.  187 

prajed  of  old,  "  Give  me  neither  poverty  nor 
riches,  but  feed  me  with  food  convenient  for 
me."  A  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  things 
tliat  he  possesseth.     Covetousness  is  idolatry. 

"•Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread."  This 
"us"  suggests  a  most  interesting  thought.  We 
cannot  ask  for  ourselves  the  supply  of  our  daily 
wants  without  asking  bread  for  all  our  brethren 
of  mankind.  What  a  beautiful  provision  is  here, 
that  we  cannot  approach  God  as  applicants  our- 
selves, without  instantly  feeling  that  we  are  inter 
ceding  priests  for  the  wants  of  all !  This  great 
law  runs  through  the  whole  of  God's  moral  and 
material  government.  For  instance,  the  seed 
cast  into  the  soil  in  spring,  it  is  notorious  to  every 
farmer,  does  not  all  come  up.  On  the  contrary 
three-fifths  of  the  seed  sown  in  spring  goes  to 
feed  the  worms  of  the  earth  and  birds  of  the  air, 
and  you  cannot  help  it.  If  you  should  try  to 
shoot  all  the  birds  in  the  air,  and  should  suc- 
ceed, you  will  find  that  you  have  multiplied  the 
worms  in   the  earth.     And  if  you  were  to  with- 


1 

188  7 EACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

hold  tlie  three-fiftlis,  and  sow  only  tlie  two-fifths, 
tliinking   you  %vonld    starve  the  hirds  and   tlie 
worms   both,  you   would  soon   find  3'ou   would 
merely  punish  yourselves  and   starve   mankind. 
God  has  made  a  law,  there  is  no  escape  from  it, 
that  only  two-fifths  of  all  that  the  farmer  sows 
shall  grow  up  into  the  harvest,  in  order  that  none 
may  sow  only  for   themselves.     God  has  incor- 
porated this  law  with  your  very  prayers  ;  that  no 
man  should  be  able,  in  the  exercise  of  a  selfish 
monopoly,  to  pray,  "  Give  n.e  this  day  my  daily 
bread ;"  but   that  every  one  that  prays  as  the 
Master  teaches,  shall  be  constrained  in  the  exer- 
cise of  catholic  liberalitj'  and  sympathy  to  pray, 
"  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread."     It  was  the 
miserable  prodigal  that  said  to  his  father,  "  Give 
me  the  portion  of  goods  that  falleth  to  me  ;"  it  is 
the  sanctified  Christian  that  prays,  "  Give  us  this 
day  our  daily  bread."     Property  is  sacred  ;  com- 
munism is  antichristian  ;  but  property  is    indi- 
cated in  the  very  bosom  of  this  clause  to  have 
its  duties  and  its  responsibilities  also. 


THE  CRY  OF   THE  CHILDREN  ^  39 

I  cannot  help  noticing  an  objection   I  have 
often  heard,  and   frequently  read  from   Roman 
Catholic  divines,  that  all  the  pauperism  now  found 
in  England  is  simply,   they  say,  the    result  of 
Protestantism  ;    whereas,    in    tbeir     countries, 
where  they  have   monks,  and  nuns,  and  erem- 
ites, and  anchorites,  and  ascetics  of  all  sorts,  the 
administrators  of  all  the  property  of  the  land, 
there  is  little  or  no  poverty.     I  answer  by  ask- 
ing  where  do  we   find   the  pauperism  of  Eng- 
land ?       Not   among    the    people    wlio    go    to 
church,  and  chapel,  and  Sunday-school.     This 
is   notorious   enough ;   it   is    among    the  people 
that  despise  all  these,  and  have  no  religion  at 
all.     And  therefore  tlie  reason  why  there  is  so 
much   poverty   in  England,  is  that  the  Protest- 
antism which  is  accused  as  its  parent  has  really 
not  reached  the  masses  that  are  the  subjects  of 
that  pauperism.     But  when  they   speak  of  Pro- 
testantism being  the  source  of  all  the  poverty  of 
England  ;   is  there  no  poverty   in  Ireland  ?     Is 
that  a  happy  and  a  prosperous  land  ?     Head  the 


190  TEACH  us  TO  PRAY. 

remarks  of  every  visitor;  they  will  tell  you  that 
the  squalid  poverty  of  that  land,  where  the 
priests  have  all  their  own  way,  is  a  by -word 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Is  there  no 
poverty  in  Italy?  I  am  told  the  beggars 
there  outnumber  the  monks ;  that  begging  is 
carried  on  everywhere  from  morning  to  night ; 
and  that  if  you  wish  to  see  poverty  in  its  most 
squalid  and  repulsive  shape,  you  must  go  to 
Romish  Italy,  and  Austria,  and  Spain.  Wher- 
ever Protestantism  prevails  in  all  its  purity,  peo- 
ple become  independent;  there  you  may  help 
the  labourer  and  he  will  thankfully  accept  it, 
but  he  will  not  descend  to  be  a  pau[)er.  But 
wherever  you  find  that  great  superstition  which 
flings  this  objection  against  us,  you  find  begging  is 
a  profession,  so  respectable  a  profession  that  eccle- 
siastics adopt  it.  Instead  of  Protestantism  being 
the  mother  of  pauperism,  it  repudiates  it,  and  ends 
it  in  proportion  as  it  spreads.  But  Komanism, 
wherever  it  exists,  raises  swarms  of  beggars  as  its 
legitimate  product ;  and  therefore  has  the  respou 


THE  CRY   OF   THE  CEILDEEN.  191 

sibility  of  all  the  mendicants  that  are  scattered 
over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  country  in 
wiiich  it  dominates  and  pre-vails.  This  very  Gos- 
pel, on  whose  forefront  is  written  that  magnificent 
thought,  "  The  Gospel  is  preached  to  the  poor," 
nevertheless,  tells  the  monk,  "  If  any  man  will 
not  work,  neither  should  he  eat."  And  wherever 
tin's  law  dominates,  sustained  as  it  is  by  the 
hifflier  sanctions  of  this  blessed  Book,  man  will 
respect  himself,  and  take  assistance  when  he 
needs  it,  and  you  owe  it  when  you  have  it ;  but 
he  will  not,  if  he  can  help  it,  become  a  dependent 
mendicant  upon  any  man's  bounty  whatever.  I 
venture  to  say  that  in  Scotland,  the  most  Protest- 
ant country  probably  in  the  world,  with  all  its 
faults,  at  this  moment  you  will  find  a  much  less 
proportion  of  beggars  than  in  any  country  upon 
earth.  You  will  find  natives  of  that  country  in 
every  land,  reflecting  so  far  credit  upon  their  na- 
tion, and  indicating  wherever  they  go  that  the 
religion  that  teaches  men  to  have  a  hope  in  hea- 
ven, inspires  them  to  exercise  a  trade  or  to  toil 
and  labour  upon  earth. 


._J 


192  TEACH  CS  TO  PRAY. 

In  offering  up  this  prayer,  then,  "  Give  lis 
this  day  our  daily  bread,"  I  revert  to  the 
thought  with  which  I  set  out  in  noticing  it,  that 
the  poor  are  inchided  when  we,  the  richest  in  the 
Land,  pray,  "  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread." 
The  poor  reap  your  fields,  they  build  your  palaces 
they  dye  your  purple,  they  weave  or  spin  your 
tine  linen  ;  and  when  you  include  them  in  your 
litany  at  the  throne  of  grace,  you  only  do  what  is 
the  discharge  of  a  grateful  obligation,  and  not  an 
imperious  and  inevitable  command.  Let  the  spar- 
row, fed  without  garners  ;  and  the  lily,  clad  with- 
out a  wardrobe  ;  above  all,  let  the  magnificent 
truth,  "  He  that  spared  not  his  own  Son,  but  gave 
him  up  for  us  all  ;  how  shall  he  not  with  him  freely 
give  us  all  things,"  teach  us  to  depend  upon  His 
faithfulness  ;  to  look  up  to  Him  for  the  exercise 
of  His  bounty  ;  and  never  to  forget  that  the  least 
blessing  that  we  have  came  by  the  way  of  t.lie 
Cross.  God  will  not  give  a  crumb  of  bread  excei)t 
tlirouo-h  Christ  ;  He  will  not  refuse  a  crown  of 
glory  in  His  name  and  for  His  sake. 


THE  CRY   OF  TEE  CHILDREN.  I93 

And  above  all,  in  conclusion,  let  me  ask  you, 
while  seeking  and  toiling  for — and  so  coinbiuing 
the  means  and  the  blessing — your  daily  bread, 
never  to  foi-get  that  there  is  a  higher  bread,  eveji 
living  bread,  that  cometh  down  from  heaven,  of 
which  we  need  also  to  eat.  Let  us  evermore  ask 
that  bread.  Christ  is  the  bread  of  life.  And  hap- 
py will  that  man  be  who  gets  neither  poverty  nor 
riches,  but  food  convenient  for  him  to  eat  below  ; 
and  is  nourished  meanwhile  and  sustained  by  that 
living  biead  which  fits  him  for  a  home  beyond 
the  stars. 

And  may  God  evermore  give  us  daily  bread  ; 
may  He  evermore  give  us  living  bread.  And  wdien 
we  think  how  great  and  how  manifold  His  mercies 
aie,  may  we  never  hesitate  to  respond  to  Him  in 
gratitude  and  j^raise.  "  Tlie  eyes  of  all  things 
wait  upon  thee,  and  thou  givest  them  their  meat 
in  due  season."  The  granaries  of  Egypt  are  ex- 
hausted, and  the  hopes  of  the  harvestmen  occa- 
sionally fail.     But  there  is  still  bread  for  to-day. 

Be  thankful  for  to-day,  and   do  not  worry  your 

9 


194  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

spirits  about  to-morrow.  The  dreaded  to-morrow, 
source  of  sleepless  nights,  no  sooner  comes  tliau  its 
shadows  flee  as  we  cross  its  margin.  As  we  enter 
its  cloud  a  voice  calls  down,  "  Your  bread  shall  be 
given,  and  your  water  shall  be  sure." 


TEE  CRY  OF  THE  SINFUL.  105 


YII. 

THE  CRT  OF  THE  SINFUL. 
"  And  forgive  us  our  debts  as  we  forgive  our  debtors." — Matt.  vi.  12. 

In  my  first  discourse  upon  this  interesting  and 
precious  Prayer  I  noticed  the  revelation  of  God 
as  a  Father ;  of  every  Christian  as  a  brother ; 
and  of  our  common  and  eternal  home  in  heaven  ; 
— the  fatherhood  of  God,  the  brotlierhood  of 
Christians,  the  everlasting  home  of  all  that  be- 
lieve. We  considered,  in  the  next  place,  the 
meaning  of  that  prayer,  "  Hallowed  be  thy 
name ;"  that  is,  may  it  be  exalted,  magnified, 
gloritied,  made  known.  We  noticed  that  God 
is  glorified  in  proportion  as  He  is  known.  A 
finite  being  needs  his  finite  characteristics  aug- 
mented in  order  to  be  honored  ;  bnt  an  infinite 
being  is  honored  and  glorified  in  proportion  as 
he  is  revealed.     We  next  referred  to  the  clause, 


196  TEACR  us  TO  PRAY. 

"  Tliy  kingdom  come."  "The  kingdom  of  God 
is  not  meat  nor  drink  ;  but  righteousness,  peace, 
joy."  The  kingdom  of  grace  ends  in  the  king- 
dom of  glory ;  when  the  great  King  shall  reign 
over  all  the  earth.  We  noticed  the  petition, 
"  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread  ;"  man's  need 
of  daily  bread  ;  his  common  wants  that  need  a 
common  and  every-day  supply.  Now  we  come 
to  the  central  clause  in  this  sublime  and  expres- 
sive litany,  around  which  in  some  degree  all  the 
rest  revolve  ;  and  without  which,  as  far  as  we 
are  concerned,  the  rest  would  be  of  no  profit, 
"  Forgive  us  our  debts,  as  we  forgive  our  debt- 
ors." Or,  as  it  is  written  in  another  Gospel, 
"Forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive  them 
that  trespass  against  us."  In  the  first  half  of 
the  Prayer,  we  find  man  seeking  first  the  glory 
and  the  kingdom  of  God ;  and  in  the  second 
half,  man  seeking  blessings  and  mercies  for  him- 
self and  for  all  his  brethren  of  mankind.  In  the 
first  half  we  have  all  the  fulness  and  the  richness 
of  God,  "  Hallowed  be  thy  name  ;  thy  kingdom 


TEE  CRY   OF  THE  SINFUL.  197 

come ;  thy  will  be  clone."  In  the  last  half  we 
have  all  the  wants,  necessities,  and  needs  of 
mankind.  "Give  us  bread;  forgive  us  sin; 
deliver  us  from  evil ;  lead  us  into  no  tempta- 
tion." We  have  given  God  first  of  all  the 
glory ;  we  have  asked  next  the  blessing  for  our- 
selves. We  have  also  embodied  in  prayer  what 
we  ought  ever  to  exhibit  in  onr  practice,  "  Seek 
first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteous- 
ness ;  and  all  other  things  will  be  added." 
There  is  running  through  the  whole  strain  of  this 
Pfayer  the  feeling,  "Give  us  bread,  and  forgive 
us  sin,  and  deliver  us  from  evil ;  but  oidy  in  that 
way  that  will  hallow  Thy  name,  and  advance 
Thy  kingdom  and  do  Thy  will."  I  noticed  also 
in  my  general  remarks  upon  this  Prayer,  how 
comprehensive  it  is ;  and  also  the  singular  fact, 
that  in  one  Gospel  it  is  varied  in  its  language 
from  the  way  it  is  given  in  another  Gospel,  in 
order  to  teach  us  there  is  no  magic  in  the  words. 
And  yet,  when  our  Lord  says  in  one  of  these 
Gospels,    "Pray,"   he   adds,    "When   ye    pray, 


198  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

say;''''  but  in  this  Gospel,  "After  this  manner 
pray."  It  seems,  therefore,  it  is  not  absolutely 
verbatim  as  it  is  given  in  any  one  of  the  Gos- 
pels, but  it  does  seem,  nevertheless,  so  conipre 
hensive,  so  rich,  so  precious,  that  I  feel  that 
public  worship  in  which  this  Prayer  is  not  used 
as  the  Saviour  taught  it,  to  say  the  least,  is  ex- 
tremely defective. 

We  have  asked  our  Father  to  give  us  dail}'- 
bread ;  owning  our  dependence  upon  Him — 
humbling  yet  ennobling  thought, — our  depen- 
dence upon  Him  for  the  least  crumb  of  brejfd 
that  we  eat  below,  and  for  the  brightest  crown 
of  glory  that  we  anticipate  above.  We  now  ask 
of  the  same,  "  Our  Father  "  the  pardon  of  sin  ; 
as  vital  and  precious  a  pre-requisite  for  the  life 
to  come,  as  daily  bread  is  for  the  life  that  now 
is.  "We  cry  as  creatures,  "  Give  us  daily  bread  ;" 
we  now  cry  as  sinners,  "  Forgive  us  our  sins  and 
trespasses."  We  have  acknowledged  in  the  last 
petition  wants  that  God  alone  can  fill ;  we 
acknowledge  in  this  petition  sins  that  God  alone 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  SINFUL.  I99 

can  forgive.  The  sense  of  hunger  makes  us 
pray,  "Give  us  daily  bread;"  the  sense  of  sin 
awakens  the  cry,  "  Forgive  us  our  sins."  If  we 
had  a  choice,  and  it  is  a  happy  tiling  that  we 
rarely  have,  we  would  rather  choose  that  God 
would  not  give,  than  that  He  would  not  forgive. 
No  gifts,  such  as  the  richest  ever  inherited  ;  no 
width  and  splendor  of  dominion,  such  as  the 
greatest  conqueror  ever  carved  out  by  his  sword  ; 
can  be  any  compensation  in  a  dying  hour  in  the 
absence  of  peace  with  God.  'But  where  there  is 
forgiveness  of  sin,  and  we  know  that  we  have  it, 
it  sweetens  the  blessings  that  we  possess,  and  it 
makes  easily  endurable  the  want  of  them.  For 
in  sickness  and  in  sorrow,  or  at  seventy — in  all 
time  of  our  wealth,  in  all  time  of  our  tribulation, 
in  the  hour  of  death,  and  in  the  day  of  judgment, 
this  is  peace,  this  is  power :  "  Blessed  is  the 
man  whose  sins  are  foi'given,  whose  transgres- 
sions are  covered  ;  and  to  whom  the  Lord  im- 
piiteth  no  iniquity."  But  before  we  own  our- 
selves sinners,  seeking  pardon,   we   previously 


200  ^^^ CH  US  TO  PRAY. 

confessed  ourselves  sons  in  the  jDresence  of  our 
Father.  Sons,  however,  as  we  are  by  grace,  we 
have  not  ceased  to  be  sinners  by  nature.  "  If 
we,"  the  sons  of  God,  "  say  we  have  no  sin,  we 
deceive  ourselves,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us  :  but 
if  we,"  sons,  "  confess  our  sins,  he,"  our  Father 
in  heaven,  "  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our 
sins,  and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrlghteoubness." 
We  have  not  only  inherited  sin,  but  we  have 
added  to  the  weight  of  the  inheritance  by  our 
personal  and  practical  transgressions.  This  is 
not  the  phice  to  enter  now  on  any  vindication  of 
what  is  so  true,  our  inheritance  of  Adam's  sin. 
It  may  however  be  wortliy  of  remark,  in  connec- 
tion with  this,  for  the  sake  of  those  who  may 
doubt  or  deny  it,  that  suppose  that  each  babe 
Ijorn  into  the  world  were  born  an  Adam  or  an 
Eve,  innocent  and  undefiled  as  they  in  Paradise 
before  they  fell ;  what,  and  how  sorrowful, 
would  be  your  thoughts  as  you  first  gazed  upon 
that  babe  !  Here  would  be  another  terrible  ex- 
periment, whether  this  child  shall  stand  or  fall? 


TEE  CRY  OF  THE  SINFUL.  201 

here,  too,  would  arise  the  awful  foreboding,  if 
this  child  fall,  do  we  know  of  any  remedy?  for 
there  is  no  Gospel  applicable  here.  How  much 
more  precious  is  the  thought  that  this  babe, 
laden  with  Adam's  sin,  is  not  the  nursling  of 
despair,  that  you  have  not  to  go  to  heaven  to 
bring  down,  nor  to  go  into  the  deep  to  fish  up ; 
but  that  close  to  you  is  the  Lamb  of  God,  wait- 
ing to  bear  that  burden  away.  The  father  has 
sinned  and  the  children  suffer  ;  this  is  the  uni- 
versal law,  we  are  all  familiar  with  it.  The 
possessor  of  an  estate,  for  instance,  squanders  it ; 
his  children  are  beggars  in  consequence.  The 
drunkard  destroys  his  health  ;  his  children  are 
diseased.  Thus  we  may  read  in  the  aspects  of 
social  life  what  the  Spirit  has  inspired  in  every 
page  of  the  Bible,  "By  one  man's  disobedience 
many  were,"  and  by  some  other  man's  dis- 
obedience every  day  many  are  still,  "  made 
sinners." 

In  asking  this  great  blessing,  forgiveness,  let 
me  entreat  of  you  to  ascertain  where  you  stand. 


202  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

The  commencement,  "  Our  Father,"  is  not  a  pre- 
face, lost  the  instant  you  enter  into  the  body  of 
the  Prayer;  it  is  the  key-note,  the  ground  note, 
of  every  clause  in  this  magnificent  Prayer.  It 
is,  "  Our  Father,  hallowed  be  thy  name  ;  Our 
Father,  give  us  daily  bread  ;  Our  Father,  for 
give  us  our  trespasses,  our  debts,  as  we  forgive 
our  debtors,  or  them  that  trespass  or  sin  against 
us."  When  we  pray  for  pardon,  we  must  re- 
member that  we  are  sinners,  but  we  must  never 
forget  that  we  are  sons.  "When  we  kneel  to 
pray  day  by  day,  we  do  not  kneel  before  God  as 
an  angry  Judge  ;  ourselves  frightened,  terrified, 
cringing  criminals,  but  as  sons  before  God,  our 
Father.  We  do  not  deprecate  His  wrath,  but 
we  ask  in  the  spirit  of  sonship  llis  fatlierly 
mercy.  The  whole  prayer  of  the  world  is  depre- 
cation of  wrath  ;  the  whole  prayer  of  the  Chris- 
tian is  imprecation  of  blessing.  Tlie  man  of  the 
world  stands  before  God  a  criminal  in  the  dock  ; 
dreading,  shrinking  deprecating :  the  Christian 
kneels  before  his  Father  in  heaven,  and  as  a  son, 


TEE  CRY  OF  THE  SINFUL.  203 

a  sinful  son — often  a  prodigal  son — always  a  sin- 
ful son,  he  asks  of  a  father  who  never  forgets, 
nor  forsakes,  nor  turns  a  deaf  ear,  mercy  and  for- 
giveness. We  do  not  ask  forgiveness  that  God 
may  be  our  father :  but  we  go  to  our  Father,  and 
ask  of  Him  forgiveness  because  He  is  our  Father 
in  Christ  Jesus.  If  you  can  carry  the  feeling 
with  you  when  you  pray,  that  you  are  really 
approaching  a  loving  Father,  and  approaching 
Him  as  sons  and  heirs,  asking  tlie  pardon  of  sin, 
it  will  not  make  you  hate  sin  less,  but  it  will 
make  you  admire  the  Saviour  more,  and  love 
our  Father  also  yet  more.  There  is  no  real, 
deep,  poignant  sense  of  sin  until  you  have  a  deep 
joyous  sense  of  God  as  your  father.  When  the 
moral  law  discloses  your  sins,  you  feel  and  see 
them  ;  but  there  is  a  rising  and  rebellious  feeling 
in  our  inmost  heart  that  impels  you  to  think  the 
law  too  severe,  the  legislator  too  exacting.  But 
when  you  draw  near  to  God,  and  see  your  sins  in 
the  light  of  a  Father's  face,  you  feel  that  your 
sins  have  been  ingratitude,  and  that  you  have 


204  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

smitten  not  a  king,  a  sovereign,  a  legislator,  but 
a  parent.  And  hence,  when  tlie  prodigal,  felt 
where  he  was,  and  whence  he  had  fallen,  and 
what  he  was,  the  deej^est  spring  of  penitence  in 
his  heart  was  in  that  bright  recollection  in  his 
memory,  "Father."  And  hence  he  said,  "I  will 
arise  and  go  to  my  father,"  holding  fast  his  pa- 
ternal and  filial  relationship  ;  and  seeing  Jiis 
sins  only  the  more  heinous  because  they  were 
sins  not  against  a  master,  but  against  a  father. 
The  Christian  will  ever  have  the  deepest  sorrow 
for  sin, the  deepest  sense  of  its  lieinousness,  while 
his  deepest  impressions  of  that  sin  are  pregnant 
with  hope  ;  whereas  the  natural  man's  deepest 
conviction  of  sin  drives  him  nearest  to  despair. 
A  Christian's  sense  of  sin  carries  him  to  our 
Father ;  an  unregenerate  man's  sense  of  sin  car- 
ries him  away  from  our  Father. 

This  petition,  "Forgive  us  our  debts,"  is  in 
harmony  with  and  linked  to  all  the  rest  of  the 
previous  petitions  of  tliis  Prayer.  God  hallows 
His  name  when    lie  grants  forgiveness  of  sin. 


THE  CRY   OF   THE   SINFUL.  205 

What  is  God's  name '(  It  is  proclaimed  in 
Exodus,  "  The  Lord,  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and 
gracious,  long  suffering,  and  abundant  in  good- 
ness and  truth,  keeping  mercj  for  thousands, 
forgiving  iniquity  and  transgression  and  sin." 
And  therefore  when  a  Christian  says,  "  Our 
Father,  forgive  us  our  sins,"  he  is  really  praying 
also,  "  Our  Father,  let  tliy  name  be  hallowed  in 
doing  so."  And  also,  when  a  Christian  prays, 
"Forgive  us  our  sins,"  he  promotes  God's  king- 
dom, for  every  sin  that  is  forgiven  is  a  stage 
nearer  its  development,  every  sinner  that  is  par- 
doned is  a  new  subject  placed  beneath  its  benefi- 
cent sceptre.  We  also  exhibit  an  expression  of 
His  will.  And  when  God  forgives  us  our  sins, 
God  tlie  great  giver  of  all,  and  the  exactor  of 
nothing,  gives  us  daily  bread  as  the  expression 
of  His  goodness ;  and  God  the  great  giver  of  all, 
and  the  exactor  of  nohting,  forgives  us  our  sins 
as  the  expression  of  His  mercy.  Thus,  ever  as 
we  utter  each  petition,  ever  as  we  use  each 
clause  to  express  a  new  want,  we  cast  light  and 


20^  TEAOHVS  TO  PRAY. 

glory  uj)on  all  the  previous  clauses.  Each  peti- 
tion as  we  advance  reminds  us  of  the  depths  and 
sins  that  need  forgiveness.  Is  God  the  Father  ? 
How  little  of  the  joyous  and  confiding  sense  of 
sons  have  we  cherished !  Does  not  the  in- 
stinctive thought  grow  up  iii  each  heart  that 
God  is  a  terrible,  angry  being,  from  whom  we 
shrink  ?  and  is  it  not  the  last  thought  we  attain, 
a  thought  implanted  by  grace,  that  He  is  a 
Father  we  may  confidingly  approach  to?  AVhen 
we  have  uttered  "Our  Father,"  how  little  of 
fraternal,  brotherly,  sisterly  feeling  have  v/e 
cherished  towards  all  our  brethren  of  the  same 
household !  When  we  pray,  "  Our  Father  in 
heaven,"  how  little  have  our  thoughts  and  affec- 
tions aspired  to,  and  found  their  resting-place  in, 
that  blessed  home  !  When  we  pray,  "  Thy  name 
be  hallowed,"  how  often  have  we  sought  to  exalt 
other  names  to  a  level  with  His,  or  uttered  that 
name  rashly,  or  given  it  a  subordinate  place ! 
When  we  pray,  "Thy  kingdom  come,"  how 
many  obstructions  have  we  presented  to  its  pro- 


-     THE  CRY   OF  THE  SINFUL.  207 

gress,  how  little  have  we  clone  to  promote  it,  how 
few  and  far  between  the  sacrifices  we  have  made 
for  it !  When  we  pray,  "  Thy  will  be  done,"  we 
are  reminded  that  we  have  tried  to  do  onr  own 
will  in  spite  of  what  we  know  to  be  God's  will, 
and  wished  our  own  will  only  done,  and  His  will 
altogether  subordinate.  When  we  have  prayed, 
"  Give  us  daily  bread,"  how  often  have  we 
snatched  the  bread,  and  given  no  glory  to  the 
bread-giver  !  How  often  have  we  attributed  to 
human  causes  and  to  secondary  laws  the  glory 
due  to  God  alone !  Thus  the  very  blessings  that 
we  ask  disclose  in  their  bosom  the  sins  of  which 
we  are  guilty,  and  we  can  see  our  sins  not  only 
reflected  from  the  great  White  Throne,  where 
they  cannot  be  forgiven,  but  from  the  throne  of 
grace  also,  where  they  can  be  forgiven  as  soon  as 
we  ask  forgiveness. 

There  is  here  another  interesting  thought.  It 
is  this :  in  praying  for  forgiveness  each  for  him- 
self, we  are  necessitated  to  pray  for  forgiveness 
for  all  mankind.      We  do  not  here  say,  nor  in- 


208  TEACH  US  TO  PRA  Y. 

deed  in  any  one  clause  of  this  Prayer,  "  Forgive 
me  my  sins,"  but  "  Forgive  us  f^  we  arc  mem- 
bers of  a  brotherhood  ruined  by  sin,  and  we  seek 
now  to  be  members  of  a  brotherhood  restored  by 
grace.  We  cannot  pray  as  sinners,  "  Forgive," 
without  praying  as  priests,  and  supplicating  for- 
giveness for  all  that  are  connected  and  associated 
with  us.  God  has  so  ordered  it  that  no  man  can 
seek  a  blessing  for  himself  in  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel  without  seeking  blessings  for  all  his 
brethren  of  mankind.  The  onl}^  book  that  extin- 
guishes selfish  monopoly, — the  wretched  feeling 
that  cares  for  our  own  wants,  however  small, 
and  nothing  for  the  wants  of  others,  however 
great, — is  the  Bible.  He  who  can  pray  the 
Lord's  Prayer  from  the  very  heart,  with  the 
spirit  and  the  understanding,  must  be  a  Chris- 
tian of  no  common  type.  Yet  we  must  never 
forget  it  is  possible  to  repeat  a  thousand  Pater 
Nosters,  and  yet  never  to  have  prayed  one  "  Our 
Father."  It  is  possible  to  pray  as  they  do  on  tlie 
continent  of  Europe,  as  a  penance,  instead    of 


THE  CRY   OF  THE  SINFUL.  209 

praying  it  as  a  privilege.  What  a  monstrous 
idea  that  a  priest  should  say  to  a  poor  sinner, 
"  You  have  sinned,  and  as  an  expiation,  atone- 
ment, and  punishment  for  your  sins,  you  must 
repeat  Pater  Fosters,  or  Our  Fathers,  twenty, 
thirty,  or  forty  times."  What  a  horrible  carica- 
ture of  the  Gospel  to  make  that  a  punishment 
which  is  essentially  a  privilege,  to  make  that  ex- 
piation which  is  a  child's  address  to  a  loving  and 
affectionate  Father  !  Only  let  me  add,  though 
it  may  interrupt  the  strain  of  my  remarks,  w^iat 
is  notwithstanding  important,  that  many  Protest- 
ants have  a  little  of  this  old  Romish  leaven  still 
lingering  in  their  hearts.  Luther  well  said, 
"  Every  man  is  born  with  a  Pope  in  his  heart ;" 
we  would  all  be  Popes,  and  they  that  would  pull 
down  the  Pope  many  a  time  would  wish  to  occu- 
py his  place.  We  are  all  born  with  this  Popish 
disposition.  How  does  it  develope  itself !  Enter 
into  some  High  Church  family,  tainted  with  the 
new  Tractarian  leaven.  A  child  has  miscon- 
ducted itself  at  Church  on  Sunday  morning.     At 


210  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

three  o'clock,  after  lunch,  the  mother  takes  the 
cliild,  and  tells  it  what  it  has  done;  and  then 
says,  "  You  must  learn  a  collect  this  afteinoon  as 
a  punishment  for  what  you  have  done."  What 
is  this?  The  parent  plajing  the  priest,  and 
introducing  Popery  into  the  nursery.  But,  you 
say,  surely  the  Scotch  Church  must  be  free  from 
that ;  it  can  have  no  tendency  of  that  sort. 
There  is  just  as  much  Popery  in  this  matter  in 
the  Scotch  Church  as  there  is  in  the  English.  I 
have  heard  a  mother  say  to  her  child  in  Scotland, 
"  Ton  have  been  very  naughty,  learn  a  Para- 
phrase, learn  the  23rd  Psalm."  The  truth  is, 
Popery  is  the  monopoly  of  no  Church  upon  earth, 
it  belongs  to  the  human  heart,  the  grace  of  God 
alone  can  put  it  down.  Let  us  teach  our  chil- 
dren, let  us  teach  in  our  nursery  and  in  our 
schools,  that  to  be  allowed  to  go  into  God's  pre- 
sence and  say,  "  Our  Father,"  is  a  greater  honor 
than  to  be  introduced  into  the  presence  of  our 
earthly  sovereign  ;  and  that  to  be  allowed  to  say, 
"  Our  Father,"  isalike  the  greatest  happiness  and 


THE  CRY  OF   THE  SINFUL.  £11 

highest  honor;  never,  oh!  never,  a  punishment 
an  expiation,  or  a  penance. 

Our  sins  are  here  set  forth  under  the  aspect  of 
debts.     In  another  Gospel  it  is,  "  Forgive  us  our 
trespasses  ;"  or  wherein  he  have  transgressed  the 
law.      In    this   Gospel  it  is,    "Forgive    us    our 
debts  :"  or  what  we  owe  to  God.      Everj    man 
upon  earth  is  a  debtor,  a  deep   debtor   to    God. 
You  owe  Him  the  love  of  all  the  heart,  all   the 
soul,  of  all  the  strength,  of  every  hour,  in  every 
place.     And  when  you  have  done  this,  as  no  hu- 
man being  ever  has  done  it,  you  have  no  merit ; 
you  have  only  paid  that  which  3-ou  owed.     The 
idea  of  deserving  of  God  when    all   is   already 
mortgaged,  or  of  paying  God  beyond   what    we 
owe,  when  we  cannot  pay  one  tithe  of  what  we 
already  owe,  is  monstrous  and  absurd.     Debts  in 
this  world  may  be  forgotten;  but  debts  to  God 
are  never  forgotten  until  they  are  forgiven.      In 
this  world  the  creditor  can  seize  the   body  only 
of  the  debtor;  in  that  other  world  soul  and  body 
are  involved  in  a  common  wreck.      Unless   our 


212  TEACH  US  TO  PRAW 

sins  are  forgiven  now,  they  will  rise   in   crashes 
and    reverberations    at    the    judgment-seat    of 
Christ.      Though    every   one    we  have   injured 
should  each  from  his  grave  cry,  "I  forgive^"  "I 
forgive,"  "  I  forgive,"  jei  our  debts  are  not  can- 
celled, our  sins  are  not  forgiven.      Nor    can    an 
eternity  of  suffering  cancel  them.     It  is  a  griev- 
ous mistake   to    suppose  that   man's   sin,    as    a 
learned     Professor     dreams,    and    wiites,    and 
preaches, — can  be  exhausted  hereafter ;  that  the 
Protestant  place  of  torment  is  merely  a  sort  of 
Protestant  Purgatory.       If  any  sufferings    that 
man  can  undergo  for  millions  of  years  can  atone 
for  his  sins,  then  it  was  not  right,  nor  expedient, 
nor  just,  that  God  should  become  man,  and  hang 
upon  a  cross  in  infinite  agony  and  sufferings  for 
me.     But  the  very  fact  that  it  needed  the  Atone- 
ment to  cover,  cancel,  and  forgive,  is  irrefragable 
proof  that  there  was  no  power  in  jnan  to  exhaust 
sin.      The  idea  of  a  sinner  exliausting  sin   here- 
after is  absurd  ;  because  whilst  he  is  paying  tlie 
penalty  he  is  always  sinning,  and  always  there- 


THE    CRY  OF  THE  SINFUL.  213 

fore  incurring,  by  the  very  necessity  of  the  case, 
a  new  penalty.  If  a  person  banished  to  a  penal 
colony,  for  seven  years,  as  punishment  for  some 
great  crime,  during  the  seven  years  commits  the 
same  crime  again,  he  incurs  seven  years  more  of 
punishment ;  and  if  the  same  crime  a  third  time, 
it  is  seven  years  more.  But  the  lost  in  misery, 
by  the  very  law  and  necessity  of  their  fallen  na- 
ture, are  ever  sinning,  ever  suffering ;  never, 
therefore,  expiating  and  atoning.  Far  better 
would  those  that  think  so,  be  employed  in  show- 
ing how  wide  open  are  the  gates  of  heaven,  and 
how  welcome  is  every  human  being  to  enter  in, 
than  in  trying  to  dilute  the  miseries  of  the  lost, 
and  impress  men  with  the  idea  that  hell  is  not  so 
terrible  as  it  is.  Kot  that  I  think  preaching  hell 
will  ever  win  a  single  soul  :  that  is  not  God's 
way  ;  God's  way  is  to  win  by  a  demonstration 
of  love  ;  by  preaching  Calvary,  not  Sinai ;  by 
attraction,  not  by  coercion  ;  by  preaching  Christ, 
not  penalty. 

God  alone  forgives  sin.      I  wish  especially  to 


214  TEACH  US  TO  PRA  Y. 

notice  tliis,  there  is  a  notion  abroad  tliat  the 
priest — if  there  be  such  a  person  in  the  ministry 
— has  power  to  forgive  sin.  If  you  k)ok  at  sin 
in  its  just  light,  you  will  see  at  once,  from  its  na- 
ture, the  absurdity  of  this  perversion.  Sin  lias 
a  twofold  aspect ;  first,  its  oft'ence  to  God,  and 
second,  its  injury  to  a  brother.  If  I  were  to 
steal  from  any  one  a  sovereign,  that  act  would 
have  two  aspects,  and  strike  in  two  directions. 
First  of  all,  it  would  be  injury  done  to  my 
brother:  and  secondly,  it  would  be  dishonesty 
in  the  sight  of  God,  or  the  infraction  of  His 
moral  law.  The  injury  to  my  brother,  that 
brother  can  forgive,  and  he  is  called  upon  to  do 
so ;  but  the  sin  that  is  in  the  act,  which  extends 
to  God,  God  alone  can  forgive.  Whatever 
offence,  therefore,  I  commit  ngainst  a  priest,  or 
a  prelate,  or  a  Pope,  or  a  man,  I  would  ask  each 
to  forgive  ;  but  that  which  underlies  the  act, 
which  goes  beyond  what  we  see,  and  strikes  at 
the  throne  of  Deity,  being  sin  against  God,  God 
alone    can   forgive.      Therefore,   I   believe    the 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  SINFUL.  215 

words  of  David  are  literally  and  strictly  true, 
"  Against  thee,  tliee  only  have  I  sinned  ;"  injury 
I  have  done  to  Uriah,  but  sin  I  have  committed 
against  Thee.  He  asks  of  God  the  forgiveness 
of  the  sin,  because  as  sin  it  was  committed 
against  Him  alone.  God  alone  forgives  sin,  and, 
therefore,  in  this  Prayer  we  ask  of  our  Father 
the  forgiveness  of  our  trespasses,  or  the  cancel- 
ling of  our  debts.  And,  blessed  thought !  when 
He  does  forgive,  He  does  it  entirely.  "Who 
forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities."  "The  blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  His  Son  cleanseth  us  from  all  sin." 
When  Alexander  gave  rewards  he  gave  them, 
as  he  said,  like  a  king.  When  God  forgives 
sins.  He  forgives  them  like  a  God.  God  our 
Father  is  the  author,  Christ's  atonement  the 
means,  His  mediation  the  channel,  our  own  souls 
the  subjects.  And  when  He  forgives  He  for- 
gives without  any  equivalent.  I  am  af^-aid  that 
word  "  forgive "  is  sometimes  misunderstood. 
We  say,  "  Give  us  bread ;  forgive  us  our  sin." 
It  is  understood  as  if  it  were,  "  Give  us  forgive- 


216  TEACn  us  TO  PRAY. 

ness  for  something."  But  the  origin  of  the 
Saxou  word  "forgive"  is  not  give  in  room  of,  <ir 
give  in  recompense,  or  in  return  ;  the  origin  of 
the  word  is,  "forth  give;"  and  therefore  it  is, 
"  Give  us  our  bread,  and  forth-give  us  our  sins, 
as  we  forth-give  them  that  sin  against  us  ;"  that 
is,  without  equivalent,  without  compensation  of 
any  sort  or  any  shape  whatever. 

Having  seen  how  rich,  how  ample,  how  gra- 
cious is  the  forgiveness,  let  us  turn  to  its  action 
and  effect  upon  us.  "  Even  as  we  forgive  them 
tliat  trespass  against  us  ;"  or,  as  it  is  in  Matthew, 
"Forgive  us  our  debts,  as  we  forgive  our  debt- 
ors." In  order  to  understand  this,  let  us  look  at 
it  in  tlie  light  of  a  very  remarkable  Parable  in 
Matt,  xviii.  23,  where  we  read,  "  Therefore  is  tlie 
kingdom  of  heaven  likened  unto  a  certain  king, 
which  -./ould  take  account  of  his  servants.  And 
when  lie  had  begun  to  reckon,  one  was  brought 
unto  him  which  owed  him  ten  thousand  talents. 
But  forasmuch  as  he  had  not  to  pay,  liis  lord 
commanded   him    to  be   sold,  and  his  wife,  and 


THE  CRY  OF  TUB  SINFUL.  217 

children,  and  all  that  he  had,  and  payment  to  be 
made.  The  servant  therefore  fell  down  and  M'or- 
shipped  him,  saying.  Lord  have  patience  witli 
me,  and  I  will  pay  thee  all.  Then  the  lord  of 
that  servant  was  moved  with  compassion,  and 
loosed  him  and  forgave  him  the  debt."  "  For- 
give us  our  debts."  "  But  the  same  servant  went 
out,  and  found  one  of  his  fellow-servants  which 
owed  him  an  hundred  pence  :  and  he  laid  hands 
on  him,  and  took  him  by  the  throat,  saying.  Pay 
me  that  tliou  owest.  And  his  fellow-servant  fell 
down  at  his  feet  and  besought  him,  saying,  Have 
patience  with  me  and  I  will  pay  thee  all.  And 
he  w^onld  not ;  but  went  and  cast  him  into  prison, 
till  he  should  pay  the  debt.  So  when  his  fellow- 
servants  saw  what  was  done,  they  were  very 
sorry,  and  came  and  told  unto  their  lord  all  that 
was  done.  Then  his  lord,  after  that  he  had  called 
him,  said  unto  him,  O  thou  wicked  servant,  I 
forgave  thee  all  that  debt,  because  thou  desiredst 
me  ;  shouldst  not  thou  also  have  had  compassion 

on  thy  fellow-servant,  even  as  I  had  pity  on  thee  ? 
10 


218  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

And  his  lord  was  wroth,  and  delivered  him  to 
the  tormentors,  till  he  should  pay  all  that  was 
due  unto  him.  So  likewise  shall  my  heaveiilj 
Father  do  also  unto  you,  if  ye  from  your  hearts 
forgive  not  every  one  his  brother  their  tres- 
passes." This  wicked  servant  wished  God,  with 
a  selfishness  that  was  perfectly  monstrous,  to  deal 
with  him  according  to  one  standard,  while  he 
claimed  the  right  to  go  out  and  deal  with  his  bro- 
ther according  to  another  standard.  He  wished 
God  to  deal  wtthhim  according  to  the  principles 
of  grace,  but  he  wanted  to  have  the  luxury  of 
dealing  with  his  fellow-servant  according  to  the 
principles  of  law.  He  received  freely,  and  he 
wanted  still  to  receive  freely,  but  he  would  not 
give  freely;  he  would  only  give,  if  give  at  all, 
for  what  he  could  get.  God  will  not  suiFer  this. 
If  you  deal  with  a  brother  by  the  strict  demands 
of  law,  you  must  be  prepared  to  be  so  dealt  with 
by  God  yourself.  Unless  the  forgiveness  that  you 
have  asked  so  earnestly  operates  in  your  heart  a 
spirit  of  loving-kindness  and  forgiveness  towards 


THE   CRY   OF    THE  SINFUL.  219 

all,  you  give  evidence  that  you  have  never  yet 
tasted  the  power  of  God's  forgiveness,  or  appre- 
ciated what  it  is.  "  Pay  me  what  thou  owest  " 
is  the  ceaseless  demand  and  exaction  of  man  ; 
"  who  forglveth  all  thine  iniquities  "  is  the  mag- 
nificent portrait  of  God.  I^one  but  a  perfect 
man  may  insist  upon  all  his  rights.  When  you 
hear  it  said,  "  That  is  my  right  and  I  will  have 
it ;"  you  hear  men  saying  what  only  a  perfect 
being  may  dare  to  say.  "The  highest  justice 
from  man  to  man  is  often  the  greatest  injury 
dealt  to  man."  ISTone  but  a  perfect  being  can 
afford  to  insist  upon  all  his  rights.  We  sinners, 
imperfect,  fallen  creatures,  must  often  let  go  our 
rights  in  the  sight  and  in  the  presence  of  Him 
who  has  asked  nothing,  and  given  us,  without 
money  and  without  price,  pardon  of  sin,  and 
grace  the  earnest  of  glory.  There  are  two  great 
kingdoms  struggling  for  supremacy  in  this  fsillen 
world, — the  kingdom  of  exaction,  or  man  ever 
demanding  from  his  fellow  ;  and  the  kingdom  of 
foregiveness,  or  man  ever  forgiving,  forgetting, 


220  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

and  letting  go.  In  the  first,  man  seizes  his  bro- 
ther by  the  throat,  and  says,  "  Pay  me  that  thou 
owest ;"  and  if  that  brother  cannot  or  does  not, 
he  casts  him  into  prison  till  he  has  paid  the  last 
f.irthing.  And  if  this  were  nniversal,  if  God  did 
not  interpose  lightening  restraints,  mitigating 
and  relieving  elements,  the  kingdom  of  exaction 
would  create  a  perfect  Pandemonium  upon 
earth  ;  in  which  the  right  we  assert  against  others 
being  asserted  by  others  against  ourselves,  no^ 
thing  relaxed,  nothing  forgiven,  all  would  be 
chaos,  uproar,  confusion,  plunder.  This  king- 
dom began  in  Paradise.  The  first  thing  that 
man  lost  was  the  fatherhood  of  God  ;  for  he  ran 
and  hid  liimself,  thinking  God  was  a  revengeful 
judge.  The  second  thing  tliat  man  lost  was  the 
brotherhood  of  mankind ;  for  Cain  rose  up  and 
slew  his  brother  Abel.  The  first  feeh'ng  tliat 
poor  Adam  and  Eve  exhibited  after  sin  had  in- 
fected their  nature  was  peculiar  to  this  king- 
dom— recrimination.  "It  was  not  my  fault; 
it  was   yours.     "It  was  not   my  fault;  it   was 


THE  CRY    OF    THE  SINFUL.  221 

yours."  "  The  woman  gave  me  "'-—Adam  cast- 
ing the  blame  most  wickedly  upon  her ;  and 
she,  not  one  whit  better  than  her  husband,  cast- 
ing the  blame  upon  the  serpent.  '^  We  ourselves 
are  perfect  innocence  personified  ;  we  have  done 
nothing."  "  I  am  innocent ;  it  was  my  wife 
that  did  all."  "  I  am  innocent,  it  was  the  ser- 
pent that  did  all :"  recrimination  and  self-righte- 
ousness commencing  as  soon  as  sin  commenced 
in  our  world.  But  the  other  kingdom  is  the 
kingdom  of  forgiveness  ;  man  receiving  forgive- 
ness from  above,  then  circulating  that  forgive- 
ness around  him  below ;  till  forgiving  one  an- 
other, even  as  God  for  Christ's  sake  has  forgiven 
us,  becomes  the  currency  of  social  life  ;  and 
courtesy,  so  beautiful  as  an  outward  thing,  ap- 
pears the  exponent  of  a  real  inward  thing  ;  think- 
ing no  evil,  rejoicing  not  in  iniquity,  rejoicing 
in  the  truth  ;  God  ever  forgiving,  never  exact- 
ing ;  and  man  forgiven,  always  forgiven  and 
never  exacting.  What  a  happy  world  would  it 
be  were  this  universal !  But  this  forgiveness  that 


222  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

we  exercise  towards  others  is  not  the  reason  why 
God  forgives  us,  but  the  consequence  and  the 
authentication  of  it.  For  instance,  when  our 
Lord  healed  a  man  that  was  ill  and  bade  l:;ni 
take  up  his  bed  and  walk,  his  carrying  his  bed 
and  walking  was  not  the  reason  why  Christ  heal- 
ed him,  but  the  endorsement  of  it,  the  authenti- 
cation and  evidence  of  it.  We  have  this  very 
idea  expressed  by  the  apostle  in  his  Epistle  when 
he  says,  "  And  be  ye  kind  one  to  another ;  ten- 
der hearted,  forgiving  one  another."  Why  ?  "  In 
order  that  you  may  be  forgiven?"  jSIo;  but 
"  even  as  God  for  Christ's  sake  hath  forgiven 
you."  By  so  doing  we  approximate  to  the 
character  of  Him  who  prayed,  "  Father,  forgive 
them." 

There  is  another  very  important  lesson.  What 
we  feel  God  is  to  us  becomes  very  much  the  de- 
termining tone  of  our  character  to  others.  That 
person  who  looks  up  to  God  as  an  angry  and  re- 
vengeful judge,  ever  exacting,  will  look  forth 
upon  his  fellow-men  in  the  same  spirit,  ever  exact- 


Tim  CRY  OF  TEE  SINFUL.  223 

ing  also  and  never  giving.  But  he  who  is  taught 
to  look  up  to  God  as  forgiving  and  giving,  and 
that  continually,  will  go  forth  the  exponent  of 
the  same  holy  and  beautiful  spirit;  forgiving 
one  another  even  as  God  for  Christ's  sake  has 
forgiven  us.  Let  me  explain,  however,  that 
this  forgiveness  of  your  brother,  this  forgiveness 
of  injury,  is  not  a  mere  stifling  of  temper.  There 
are  men,  constitutionally  of  a  proud,  haughty 
spirt,  who  may  have  received  a  great  injury  ; 
their  spirit  is  chafed,  they  are  irritated,  vexed, 
but  such  is  their  pride  that  they  do  not  show  it. 
Tliey  dwell  upon  the  offence — they  cherish  the 
revenge  in  their  own  hearts ;  and  would  not 
show  that  they  were  chafed  or  irritated,  or  let  an 
expression  escape  their  lips  that  they  are  so. 
This  is  not  forgiving  one  another ;  forgiveness  of 
one  another  is  in  the  heart,  it  lies  in  the  sub- 
duedness  of  the  heart,  the  warming  of  the  affec- 
tions, the  sanctifying  of  all  the  feelings.  It  is 
not  silence  without,  but  inner  kindness.  It  is 
not  management  for  the  sake  of  appearance,  but 


224  TEACH  US  TO  PRA  Y. 

it  is  love  in  the  inmost  recesses  of  tlie  human 
heart.  And  this  feeling  is  happiness.  It  is  not, 
now,  one  of  the  striking  incidental  proofs  of  the 
divine  origin  of  this  blessed  Book,  that  everything 
it  recommends  so  far  contributes  to  the  present 
happiness  of  man,  and  everything  it  dissuades 
from  so  far  discourages  what  would  do  man 
injury  ?  Fallen  as  our  nature  is,  it  feels  that  all 
the  malignant  passions  are  springs  of  wretched- 
ness. Revenge,  envy,  hatred,  malice,  all  un- 
charitableness,  are  stings  that  enter  to  the  very 
quick,  intolerable  and  miserable.  And,  on  the 
other  hand,  fallen  as  we  are,  difficult  as  it  may 
be,  love,  charity,  peace,  forgiving  one  another, 
thinking  the  best  of  everybody,  wishing  well  to 
every  human  being,  are  emotions  so  far  fraught 
with  happiness.  And  if  there  be  one  happy 
emotion  upon  earth,  it  is  first  the  sense  that  we 
are  forgiven,  and  only  second,  our  spirit  of  for- 
giveness towards  all  our  brethren  of  mankind 
The  great  poet  has  reflected  the  same  sentiment 
when  he  said, — 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  SINFUL.  225 

*'  The  quality  of  mercy  is  not  strain'd  ; 

It  droppetli,  as  the  gentle  rain  from  heaven 
Upon  the  place  beneath  :  it  is  twice  bless'd  ; 
It  blesseth  him  that  gives,  and  him  that  takes  ; 
'Tis  mightiest  in  the  mightiest ;  it  becomes 
The  throned  monarch  better  than  his  crown." 

So  true  is  it,  "  Blessed  are,  or  happy  are,  the 
merciful."  We  see  in  these  truths  the  true  ex- 
tinction of  war,  national,  social,  universal.  It 
is  not  a  Peace  Society,  or  Peace  Society  prescrip- 
tions, that  will  ever  arrest  the  ravages  of  war. 
It  is  the  sinner,  not  the  soldier,  that  makes  war. 
It  is  human  passion,  not  gunpowder,  that  gives 
the  cannon  its  dread  mission.  It  is  man's  evil 
heart,  not  the  firebrand  or  the  match,  that  ignites 
the  gunpowder.  And  the  reform  that  is  to  end 
in  universal  peace  is  the  regeneration  of  every 
heart;  and  only  when  every  heart  is  regenerated, 
and  not  till  then,  will  war  cease.  Terrible  as 
war  is,  terrible  as  it  is  in  our  present  experience, 
yet  it  is,  and  will  be,  and  will  blaze  more,  until 
man  personally  becomes  man  forgiven,  and 
through  the  force   of  that  forgiveness  learns  to 

forgive  as  he  is  forgiven.  I  do  not  say  that  every 
10* 


226  TEACH  f/S  TO  TRAY. 

war  is  llie  result  of  passions  upon  our  part.  No 
doubt  tliere  are  sinfulness  and  imperfection  in  it. 
The  only  war  that  this  blessed  Gospel  admits  is  a 
defensive  one  ;  and  even  such  war  is  exceptional, 
it  provides  for  it  as  a  thing  that  will  be,  it  does 
not  insist  upon  it  as  a  thing  that  must  be.  When 
kings  on  their  thrones,  when  cabinet  ministers  in 
their  cabinets,  when  fathers  in  their  families, 
w^hen  masters  in  their  places  of  business,  shall  all 
pray  from  the  very  depths  of  the  heart,  "  For- 
give us  our  debts,  as  we  forgive  our  debtors,"  tlieu 
and  only  then — then  and  only  then,  \vhen  Christ 
shall  come,  and  the  kingdom  shall  be  His,  and 
His  gloiy  shall  lighten  every  land,  the  sword 
shall  be  beaten  into  the  ploughshare  and  the 
spear  into  the  pruning-hook,  and  the  nations 
shall  learn  war  no  more. 

It  is  an  awful  thought  that  any  should  perish 
because  they  will  not  ask  forgiveness  of  God.  It 
is  a  glorious  thought  that  should  throb  in  every 
heart,  "  there  is  forgiveness  with  thee," — a  for- 
giveness free,  perfect,    and    irrevocable   as   the 


THE  CRY  OF  TEE  SINFUL.  227 

Bacrifice  that  secures  it.     Kot  the  least  precious 
thing  is  this  in  the  inventory  of  Christianity. 

Wliatever  else  we  need,  we  all  need  this. 
Seek  it  from  the  heart.  Seek  it  in  the  name  of 
Jesus.  Seek  it  from  our  Father.  Refusal  is  im- 
possible. 


228  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 


YIIL 

THE  CRT  OF  THE  TEMPTED. 
••  And  lead  us  not  into  temptation."— Matt.  vi.  18. 

We  begin  all  our  prayers,  just  us   we    begin 
the  repetition  of  our  creed,  by  recognising  God 
as  the  Father.      "  I  believe  in  God  the  Father," 
and  we  begin  our  praj'^er,  "  Our  Father."    Herein 
is  the  difference  between  the  Christian    and    the 
man  of  the  world.     The  latter  says,  "  I  suffer,  I 
am  afflicted,  I  am  unsuccessful,   therefore   God 
hates  me."      The  former  begins  at  the  opposite 
end,  "  God  is  my  Father,  therefore  what  I  suffer, 
and  I  endure,  are  the  chastisements  of  a  loving 
parent,   not  the    penal   inflictions   of  an   angry 
judge."      I  noticed  that  when  we  pray  we   do 
not  say,  "  My  Father,"  that   would    be   selfish ; 
but  as  if  God  inseparably  connected  our  prayers 
as  petitioners   witli  our  intercessions  as  Chris- 


THE  CRY  OF  TEE  TEMPTED.  229 

tian  priests,  lie  has  so  linked  the  interests  of 
all  with  benedictions  upon  each,  that  we  are 
taught  to  praj,  not  "My  Father,"  which  niiglit 
be  the  solitary  cry  of  a  selfish  heart,  but  "  Our 
Father,"  the  common  and  comprehensive  cry  of 
the  whole  Catholic  Church.  "  Father  "  is  God's 
fetherhood,  "  Our  Father  "  is  the  believer's  bro- 
therhood,— "  In  heaven  "  is  the  home  to  which 
we  are  all  journeying  as  expectants  of  glory,  and 
honor,  and  eternal  rest.  The  first  half  of  the 
prayer  is  our  imploring  God  to  glorify  himself. 
"  Hallowed  be  thy  name,  thy  kingdom  come, 
thy  will  be  done."  The  last  half  of  tlie  prayer 
is  seeking  satisfaction  for  our  own  wants,  as  if  to 
teach  us  that  a  Christian  will  not  even  pray  for 
a  blessing  on  himself  till  he  has  prayed  that  God 
may  have  glory  in  giving  it.  How  truly  does 
this  form  and  model  of  prayer  fall  in  with  Christ's 
prescription  for  practice, — "  Seek  first  the  king- 
dom of  God  and  his  righteousness."  "  Hallowed 
be  thy  name,  thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be 
done,"  then  all  the  other  things  shall  be  added ; 


230  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

therefore  we  pray,  "  Give  us  daily  bread,  forgive 
us  our  debts,  lead  us  not  into  temptation."  The 
first  half  contains  the  riches  of  God,  "Thy  Idng- 
doni,  thy  name,  thy  will ;"  the  last  half  exposes 
the  poverty  and  the  emptiness  of  man,  "  Give 
us  bread,  forgive  us  sin,  deliver  us  from  all 
evil." 

A  child  can  pray  it ;  an  experienced,  aged 
Christian,  ripe  for  glory,  ever  finds  new  meaning 
ill  it.  I  do  not  wonder  that  in  some  churches 
they  repeat  it  in  the  same  service ;  it  is  so  pre- 
cious, so  expressive,  so  comprehensive,  tliat  the 
wonder  is  it  is  not  repeated  oftener,  not  as  words, 
but  in  spirit  and  in  truth  ; — I  say  in  spirit  and 
in  truth — for  one  may  say  a  thousand  Pater  Nos- 
ters  in  a  thousand  hours,  and  yet  may  not  have 
prayed  one  single  "  Our  Father,  which  art  in 
heaven."  In  the  first  petition,  "Give  us  daily 
bread,"  we  hear  the  cry  of  man  as  the  dependent 
creature  ;  in  the  other,  "  Forgive  us  our  sins,  we 
see  man  the  penitent  sinner.  In  the  tliird,  on 
which  I  now  enter,  "  Lead   us  not  into  tenipta- 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  TEMPTED.  231 

tion,"  we  have  man  conscious  of  clanger  and 
weakness,  and  seeking  strength  and  preservation, 
"  Give  us  daily  bread  "  is  the  cry  of  the  humble 
mendicant,  dependent  upon  God  for  a  crumb  of 
bread,  as  well  as  for  a  crown  of  glory.  The  sec- 
ond is  the  petition  of  man,  the  poor  sin-stricken 
criminal,  conscious  of  his  sins,  and  seeking  abso- 
lution from  our  Father,  "  We  are  weak,  we 
cannot  stand  unless  Thou  uphold  us;  we  are  err 
ing,  we  do  not  know  the  way  unless  Thou  wilt 
be  pleased  to  guide  us.  Perfect  Thy  strength  in 
our  weakness;  sustain  us  in  the  hour  and  power 
of  trial.  Our  Father,  lead  us  not  into  tempta- 
tion." The  Christian  who  has  obtained  the  for- 
giveness of  his  sins  does  not  rest  satisfied,  much 
less,  as  the  world  misconstrues  him,  give  license 
to  every  evil  appetite;  but  the  instant  he  has  ob- 
rained  forgiveness  through  the  blood  of  sprink- 
ling, he  applies  for  sanctification, — "Lead  us  not 
into  temptation," — by  the  power  and  presence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  In  other  words,  a  Chris- 
tian is  not  satisfied  to  have  his  sins  expiated  only  ; 


232  TEACH  US  TO  PliA  Y. 

he  longs  to  have  them  extirpated  also.  Justified 
by  faith,  he  has  peace ;  pardoned,  he  desires  to  be 
sanctified.  And,  blessed  thought !  whom  God 
justifies,  them  He  always  glorifies,  and  tliere- 
fore  sanctifies.  What  is  the  meaning  of  this 
prayer,  "  Lead  us  not  into  temptation  ?"  We 
read  in  another  place,  "  God  tempteth  no  man." 
Then  in  what  sense  can  we  pray  to  God,  "  Lead 
us  not  into  temptation  ?"  We  are  quite  sure  that 
none  are  seduced  or  led  into  into  sin  by  any 
active  agency  and  influence  from  God.  There 
is  a  guiding  truth  that  always  keeps  one  right  on 
this  subject, — that  all  that  is  evil  is  from  the  crea- 
ture ;  all  that  is  holy,  beneficent,  and  good,  is  ex- 
clusivelv  from  God.  God  originates  the  good  ;  the 
creature  is  responsible  for  the  evil.  And  there- 
fore every  inspiration  that  is  holy  is  from  above  ; 
every  inclination  that  is  corrupt  is  in  some  shape 
or  m  some  way  from  the  creature  ;  and  not  in  any 
way  or  in  any  sense  or  shape  fr:m  the  Creator. 
In  what  sense  do  we  ask  God  not  to  lead  us  into 
temptation?     A  great  many  have  tried  to  escape 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  TEMPTED.  233 

difficulties  that  seem  latent  in  tnis  clause.  Some 
say  it  should  mean,  "  Leave  us  not  in  tempta- 
tion." But  then  the  Greek  word  is  quite  plain, 
and  can  bear  no  such  meaning.  Others  again 
regard  it  as  meaning  merely,  "Lead  us  not  into 
so  great  a  temptation  that  we  snail  sink  under 
it ;  but  that  is  a  paraphrase  which  I  doubt  if  the 
words  will  admit  of.  It  does  seem  to  me  that 
temptation  is  literally  evil  in  itself;  and  that  the 
prayer  is  not,  "  Lead  me  into  a  certain  degree 
of  it ;"  but  "  Lead  me  into  no  degree  of  tempta- 
tion whatever  :"  this  seems  the  literal  and  fair 
interpretation  of  the  words.  It  marks  the  mar- 
gin to  which  God  may  load  us  ;  beyond  which 
we  pray  we  may  never  be  led  at  all.  "We  may, 
for  instance,  be  led,  in  the  providential  arrange- 
ments of  God,  into  sickness,  sorrow,  bereave- 
ment, poverty,  distress,  famine,  plague,  pesti- 
lence, hunger,  nakedness,  the  sword ;  perils  by 
land,  and  perils  by  sea  ;  and  yet  we  may  not  be 
led  in  any  one  of  them  into  temptation.  We 
mav  not  be  led,  and  our  prayer  is  that  we  may 


234  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

not  be  led,  to  that  point  when  trial  becomes 
temptation.  There  is  a  trial  which  is  not  tempta- 
tion ;  there  is  temptation  which  is  the  result  of 
a  trial  too  strong  for  us  to  endure,  God  places  us 
therefore  in  outward  circumstances  of  trial ;  we 
place  ourselves  in  inward  conditions  of  tempta- 
tion. Temptation  arises  not  necessarily  from 
what  we  liave,  but  solelj  from  what  we  are. 
Theie  would  be  no  temptation  in  any  of  God's 
providential  gifts,  if  it  were  not  that  they  come 
into  contact  with  an  evil  heart,  which  elaborates 
evil  out  of  all  that  betides  us,  and,  like  the  taran- 
tula spider,  sucks  poison  from  the  sweetest  and 
the  most  fragrant  flower.  What  therefore  we 
pray  here  is  that  we  may  have  that  sanctifica- 
tion  of  heart,  that  elevation  of  nature,  that  sus- 
taining strength  and  energy,  which  in  all  time 
of  our  tribulation,  in  all  time  of  our  wealth,  will 
carry  us  over  the  trial,  through  the  trial,  but  not 
lead  us  into  or  leave  us  in  temptation.  The  gen- 
eration and  force  of  sin  is  not  in  external  circum- 
stances at  all.     Place  a  perfectly  holy  man  in 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  TEMPTED.  235 

tliG  lieiglit  or  in  the  depth;  and  all  things  will 
be  hoi/  still.  Our  Blessed  Lord  walked  in  the 
inaiket-place,  sat  at  the  Pharisee's  table,  spake 
and  conversed  in  the  Publican's  home,  unscathed 
by  the  least  taint  of  sin,  triumphant  intinitelj 
over  all  that  approached  to  any  sin.  On  the 
other  hand,  thousands  in  order  to  escape  tempta- 
tion have  rushed  from  the  outer  world,  from  so- 
cial life,  from  the  possession  of  wealth,  and  from 
official  life;  and  have  taken  shelter  in  convents, 
in  monasteries,  in  cells,  and  in  caves ;  and  they 
have  found  that  they  have  carried  their  sins  in 
them  and  with  them  ;  and  have  aggravated,  not 
diluted,  them  by  the  change.  Here  then  was  the 
Son  of  God  in  contact  with  the  wide  world,  yet 
spotless ;  here  is  the  monk  running  from  the 
world,  yet  becoming  a  worse  sinner  than  before. 
What  does  that  show  us  ?  That  the  secret  of  the 
mischief  is  not  in  anything  that  is  outside,  but 
wholly  in  a  heart  that  needs  to  be  regenerated  ; 
and  till  it  is  regenerated,  sanctified,  and  inspired, 
man  will  still  fall  into  temptation.     Therefore  I 


23G  TEACH  L'S  TO  PRAY. 

should  suppose  this  prayer  to  mean,  '*  Lord,  lead 
me  in  Thy  providence  into  prosperity  or  into  ad- 
versity ;  into  sickness,  or  sorrow,  or  bereave- 
ment, or  lite,  or  any  phasis  of  providential  deal- 
ings that  to  Thee  seemeth  best ;  but  lead  me  not 
into  temptation."  It  is  therefore  tlie  words  of 
our  Lord,  "  I  pray  not  that  thou  wouldest  take 
them  out  of  the  world ;  but  that  thou  wouldest 
keep  them  from  the  evil  of  the  world."  It  is  not 
our  circumstances  that  give  tone,  shape,  and  de- 
termination to  the  inward  man  ;  but  it  is  the  in- 
ward man  that  gives  coloring,  and  tone,  and 
shape,  and  direction  to  all  the  circumstances  of 
life.  "  As  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  lie." 
It  is  the  thinking  heart  that  elaborates  evil  out 
of  that  which  in  itself  may  be  good  ;  turns  the 
feast  into  a  poison  ;  and  trial  that  may  purify 
into  temptation  that  may  destroy.  To  illustrate 
this,  God  gives  us  in  His  providence  as  a  bless- 
ing upon  our  honest  labor,  increase  of  wealth. 
There  is  no  sin  in  being  rich ;  just  as  there  is  no 
merit  in  being  poor.     We  find  ourselves,   then, 


THE  CRY  OF  TTIE  TEMPTED.  237 

possessed  of  riches.  But  the  instant  tliat  our 
carnal  heart  comes  into  contact  with  great 
wealth,  temptation  is  generated ;  and  we  are 
proud,  and  forget  God  ;  we  think  this  world  is  to 
be  our  lasting  and  therefore  our  blessed  home. 
Our  prayer  therefore  would  be,  not,  "  Lead  us 
not  into  riches;"  but,  "Lead  us  not  into  that 
which  our  carnal  heart  may  extract  from  riches; 
the  temptation  that  is  destructive  and  evil." 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  does  God  send  us  pov- 
erty ?  There  is  no  merit  in  poverty ;  and  there 
is  no  sin  in  poverty.  But  will  the  carnal  heart 
now  be  still?  Will  temptation  now  be  banished? 
Just  the  reverse  ;  for  the  poor  have  their  tempta- 
tions to  be  dishonest  just  as  the  rich  have  their 
temptations  to  be  proud.  And  the  carnal  heart, 
struggling  and  wrestling  with  poverty  around 
it,  like  a  sea  that  threatens  to  overwhelm  and  to 
destroy  it,  will  be  tempted  to  have  recourse 
to  dishonest  means  of  escape,  and  to  do  that  which 
is  sinful  in  the  sight  of  God.  Or,  to  take  a  still 
more  striking  instance,  have  we  neither  the  wealth 


238  TEACH  US  TO   PRAT 

that  tempts  us  to  be  proud,  nor  the  poverty  that 
tempts  us  to  be  dishonest  ?  Have  we  what  Agur 
prayed  for,  neither  poverty  nor  riches,  but  food 
convenient  for  us  ?  Surely  now  there  will  l)e  no 
temptation  in  that  ?  Instantly  a  wicked  heart, 
sustained  and  inspired  by  the  wicked  spirit,  will 
even  there  elaborate  poison ;  for  it  will  begin  to 
congratulate  itself, — "  T  am  not  like  that  rich 
man,  proud ;  and  I  am  not  like  that  poor  man, 
dishonest.  I  have  neither  poverty  nor  riches  ; 
and  therefore  I  am  all  that  I  should  be  in  the 
sight  of  God  and  man."  Or  again,  have  you 
great  talent,  intellectual  power,  pre-eminence, 
and  force?  How  often  do  we  find  that  showing 
itself  in  insubordination  to  the  word  of  God  ;  and 
trying  not  to  ascertain  what  is  the  mind  of  Him 
that  wrote  it,  but  how  it  may  be  twisted,  turned, 
and  directed,  to  our  previous  prepossessions  and 
prejudices  !  Have  we  great  health  ?  How  often 
does  this  make  us  feel  a  sort  of  semi-defiance  of 
God,  as  if  we  could  ourselves  determine  liow 
long  the  pulse  shall  beat,  and  liow  long  life  shall 


THE  CRY   OF   TEE   TEMPTED.  £39 

last.  The  fact  is,  place  a  man  in  the  height  of 
prosperity,  in  the  depth  of  poverty  ;  or  in  what 
is  supposed  to  be  that  happy  and  bahny  equator 
where  there  is  neither  the  torrid  heat  of  the  one, 
nor  the  frozen  rigors  of  the  yther  ;  you  find  that 
still  temptation  comes.  In  short,  it  is  the  fallen 
heart  that  is  wrong ;  and  until  it  be  righted, 
and  inspired  and  sustained  by  the  Spirit  of  God", 
man  -will  be  tempted  evermore,  and  as  often  aa 
he  is  tried. 

Let  us  try  to  ascertain  now,  which  is  a  practi- 
cal lesson  for  us,  how  does  God  not  lead  us  into 
temptation ;  in  what  shape  does  He  fulfil  to  us 
this  prayer,  or  answer  it?  You  must  give  no 
quarter  to  the  evil  one,  you  must  not  deprecate 
Satan's  doing  so.  You  must  treat  him  as  the 
fallen  fiend,  as  the  ruthless  adversary;  and  seek 
not  that  he  will  cease  to  tempt,  but  that  God 
will  lead  you  not  into  temptation.  In  the  first 
place,  He  does  so,  by  awakening  in  your  heart 
thoughts,  recollections,  sentiments,  feelings,  that 
neutralize  the   temptation.     And  secondly.  He 


J 


240  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

does  so  by  giving  you  to  dwell  in  your  hearts 
the  Sanctifier,  the  Comforter,  who  takes  of  the 
things  of  Christ  and  shows  them  unto  yon  ;  and 
when  the  temptation  comes  nearest  gives  you 
tliose  deep,  lofty,  and  victorious  impressions  that 
make  you  more  than  conqueror  through  Him 
that  loved  you.  Let  me  illustrate  this.  You 
are  tempted  to  distrust  God  ;  all  seems  the  rising 
darkness  of  a  moral  night  around  you  ;  all  seems 
the  thickening  cloud  in  the  dark  canopy  above 
you.  In  these  circumstances  you  are  tempted 
to  distrust  God  ;  not  to  say,  for  you  dare  not, 
but  to  think,  "  God  has  forgotten  me ;  my  God 
has  forsaken  me,  or  He  has  retired  from  the 
world,  and  left  it  to  all  the  disasters  of  ungov- 
ernable chance."  The  Holy  Spirit,  just  as  your 
trial  is  about  to  issue  in  temptation,  interposes 
as  the  ceaseless  Comforter,  and  wliispers  in  the 
silent  cells  of  the  heart,  the  conscience,  and  the 
memory,  "The  mountains  shall  depart,  and  the 
hills  shall  be  removed  ;  but  my  loving-kindness 
shall  not  depart,  neither  shall  the  covenant  of 


THE  CRY  OF   THE  TEMPTED.  241 

my  peace  be  removed."  Again,  that  same 
Spirit  whispers  to  jou,  "  Cas*-,  all  your  care  upon 
him  ;  for  he  " — not  once  cared  or  will  care — but 
"he  careth  for  you."  And  you  yourselves 
know  that  a  thought  from  the  fountain  of  truth, 
God's  Holy  "Word,  many  a  day  breathed  into 
your  heart,  has  risen  upon  the  darkness  within, 
like  a  bright  star  upon  the  brow  of  night,  or  has 
awakened  within  you  the  music  of  heaven  itself; 
and  you  have  felt,  what  is  so  true,  that  in  God's 
Word,  applied  by  God's  Spirit,  there  is  comfort, 
there  is  the  element  of  glorious  victory.  You 
are  placed  perhaps  in  circumstances  of  very 
great  affliction ;  not  depression,  but  of  great 
affliction.  You  have  lost  your  property,  or  your 
estate,  or  the  profits  you  had  fairly  and  lawfully 
earned  ;  perhaps  your  home,  your  friends ;  and 
yom*  present  trial  seems  to  jou  from  its  aggra- 
vation and  its  accumulation  worse  than  anything 
you  have  experienced  before  ;  and  you  are  con- 
strained to  say,  like  the  prophet  of  old, — "Thou 
hast  cast  me  into  the  deep,  in  the  midst  of  the 
11 


242  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

sea.  Tlie  floods  compass  me  about;  all  thj 
billows  and  tby  waves  pass  over  me  ;  and  I  say, 
I  ;un  cast  out  of  thy  sight."  Yet  some  mysteri- 
ous power  whispers  to  your  heart,  "Be  still, 
trust  in  the  Lord ;"  and  you  say,  like  Jonal 
when  he  was  brought  to  his  better  recollections, 
"  I  will  look  again  towards  Thy  temple,  O  God." 
And  thus  you  find  God  delivering  and  helping 
you.  Not,  God  will  not  lead  you  into  trial  ;  not, 
He  will  not  lead  you  into  sorrows;  but  He  will 
not,  if  you  ever  look,  learn,  and  watch,  and 
pray,  lead  you  into  temptation.  God,  for  in- 
stance, does  not  say  he  will  not  lead  you  into 
pestilence,  or  into  plague,  or  into  famine ; 
but  He  does  say,  that  you  may  not  distrust  Ilim, 
and  so  may  be  kept  from  temptation,  "  A  thou- 
sand shall  full  at  thy  side,  and  ten  thousand  at 
thy  right  hand  ;  but  it  shall  not  come  nigh 
ihoe."  God  does  not  say  that  He  will  never 
lead  you  into  trouble  ;  but  in  order  that  you 
may  be  never  tempted  to  doubt,  He  tells  you, 
"When   thou   passest  through   the  rivers,  they 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  TEMPTED.  243 

shall  not  overflow  thee ;  and  through  the 
waters,  I  will  be  with  thee,"  And  thus  through 
tlie  truth  which  is  the  medium  of  sanctification 
applied  by  the  Spirit,  who  is  the  author  of  it, 
you  are  delivered,  not  from  trial,  but  from 
temptation ;  not  from  difficulties,  but  from  dis- 
trust ;  not  from  affliction,  but  from  suspicion  of 
the  faithfulness  and  the  loving-kindness  of  our 
God.  In  other  circumstances,  when  the  eye  is 
opened  to  the  full  extent  of  all  our  trials,  and 
^\'hen  the  Christian  discovers  that  our  greatest 
trials  are  not  earthly  ones,  but  supernatural  ones  ; 
— when  he  discovers  that  we  wrestle  not  against 
flesh  and  blood,  but  against  principalities  and 
powers,  and  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places  ; 
when  we  hear  that  Satan  goeth  about  as  a  roar- 
ing lion,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour ;  when 
we  read,  "Satan  hath  desired  to  have  you,  that 
lie  may  sift  you  as  wheat;" — there  is  our  peril. 
And  if  there  be  any  one  tempted,  tried  with  evil 
thoughts,  appetites,  desires,  passions;  or  infidel- 
ity, scepticism,  and  atheism  ;  what  does  it  prove? 


2-1,4.  TEACH  US  TO  TRAY. 

That  Satan  is  sifting  yon,  and,  blessed  thonglit ! 
that  yon  are  wlieat.  and  worth  sifting.  Satan 
does  not  sift  the  ch:ifF.  The  very  temptation  to 
which  yon  are  exposed  is  evidence  of  wliat  you 
are ;  for  it  is  the  wheat  that  he  has  desired  to 
have  that  he  may  sift  it.  And  yonr  strength, 
your  safety,  your  victory,  lies  here  ;  not  in  wheat, 
not  in  yonr  faith;  "but  I,"  says  the  Saviour 
"have  prayed  for  you,  that  yonr  faith  fail  not." 

There  are  times  in  the  experience  of  every 
Christian  when  many  hostile  elements  seem  to 
combine,  and  try  and  test  him  to  the  very  utter- 
most; and  his  trial  seems  to  him  so  severe  that 
never  has  he  felt,  and  he  thinks  no  one  else  ever 
feels,  anything  like  it.  But  it  is  no  comfort  to 
him,  "  there  hath  no  temptation  overtaken  you 
but  such  as  is  common  to  man."  That  is  one 
comfort.  But  God  is  faithful,  "  who  will  not 
suffer  you  to  be  tried,"  to  be  tested,  "  above  that 
ye  are  able  ;  but  will  with  the  trial  also  make  a 
way  of  escape,  so  that  ye  may  be  able  to  bear 
it."      Take  the  worst  instance  vou  recollect.— 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  TEMPTED.  245 

the  person  most  tried,  most  shattered;  one  who 
is  drifting  without  a  star  in  his  skj,  witliout  a 
taper  on  earth,  without  a  particle  of  present 
peace,  without  a  ray  of  future  hope.  It  can  be 
said  of  that  most  storm-tossed  voyager  to  an  ever- 
hxsting  haven,  "  There  hath  no  temptation  over- 
taken him  but  such  as  is  common  to  man."  And 
that  God  who  has  permitted  it,  or  who  has  sent 
it,  is  faithful,  who  will  not  suffer  you  to  be  tried 
above  that  ye  are  able  to  bear.  Take  that  text  to 
your  bosom  ;  commit  it  to  memory  ;  think  of  it 
often.  It  is  not  the  quantity  of  Scripture  that  we 
read,  but  it  is  the  amount  of  hold  that  a  little 
Scripture  gets  of  our  heart  and  conscience,  that 
is  power  and  life,  and  peace,  and  joy. 

You  are  tempted  perhaps,  what  is  still  worse,  to 
suspect  or  to  distrust  your  title  to  acceptance. 
You  begin  to  think.  Well,  I  can  see  what  the 
Gospel  is;  I  know  what  the  Saviour  is;  but  I 
sometimes  think  that  I  have  not  a  right  hold  of 
him,  or  that  he  has  not  a  right  hold  of  me ;"  and 
you  doubt  the  foundation  of  a  Christian's  hope 
and  trust  in  the  sight  of  God. 


24:6  1  EACUVS  TO  FRAY. 

You  may  suspect  the  strength  of  jour  confi- 
dence, but  jou  may  not  suspect  tlie  strength  of 
the  foundation  on  whicli  you  lean.  You  must 
never  forget  that  your  safety — and  this  is  a  very 
important  distinction — for  an  everlasting  world 
is  not  contingent  upon  the  force  of  your  faith, 
but  upon  the  stability  of  Christ,  the  great  foun- 
dation. When  the  poor  Hebrew  was  in  his 
home  on  that  memorable  night  when  the  angel 
of  death  rushed  with  unflagging  wing  through 
every  street  and  lane  and  alley  of  broad  Egypt, 
and  wherever  the  sprinkled  blood  was  not  upon 
the  lintel  and  door-posts  entered,  and  struck 
dead  the  firstborn,  the  mother,  with  her  babe, 
her  first  born  and  her  only  one, — knowing,  how- 
ever, as  a  Hebrew  mother,  that  the  blood  was 
sprinkled  on  the  lintel, — when  she  heard  the 
rush  of  the  angel's  wing,  and  the  wild  wail  that 
rose  from  Egypt,  as  every  inhabitant  ran  seek- 
ing sympathy  from  a  neighbor,  and  met  that 
neighbor  seeking  sympathy  from  her  ;  when  the 
mother  heard  the  wail  of  those  that  mourned 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  TEMPTED.  247 

over  their  first-born  struck  dead,  and  the  rush  of 
the  angel  as  he  swept  through  her  own  street 
and  struck  down  the  first-born  of  the  veiy  house 
that  was  next  to  her  own  ;  that  her  heart  trem- 
bled, and  that  she  gave  up  all  for  lost,  and 
thought  that  her  own  would  next  be  struck  down. 
But  her  safety  was  not  therefore  the  least  dimi- 
nished ;  because  her  protection  was  not  the 
strength  of  her  faith,  but  the  blood  that  was 
sprinkled  on  the  lintels  and  the  door-posts  of  her 
home.  So,  our  safety  is  not  the  strength  of  our 
faith,  for  it  is  feeble,  flickering,  faltering,  change- 
able ;  but  the  yure  foundation,  leaning  upon 
which  the  least  faith  and  the  greatest  faith  has 
an  equal  title  to  heaven  ;  because  the  title  is  not 
the  faith  within,  but  the  ground  of  faith,  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  without. 

You  may  be  tempted  often,  as  I  dare  say  you 
are,  to  suspect  the  love  of  God  to  you  ;  and  you 
cannot  begin  the  prayer  as  usual,  "  Our  Father  ;" 
for  you  think  he  has  ceased  to  be  so.  Your  love 
ranges  from  the  loftiest  mark  down  below  zero 


248  TEACH  rs  TO  rUAY. 

itself;  but  His  love  does  not  weai-j  in  the  least, 
nor  change  nor  falter  in  tlie  very  worst  of  circum- 
stances. He  loved  you  in  spite  of  your  sin  ;  and 
now  that  He  has  made  you  what  you  should  be, 
He  will  surely  no  cease  to  love  you.  He  loved 
you  from  the  first,  and  He  will  love  you  to  the 
last.  You  may  lament  the  coldness  of  your 
love,  the  faltering  of  your  trust,  the  susj^icion  of 
your  heart,  but  never  doubt  that  if  He  has  loved 
you  from  the  first,  He  will  love  you  onward  even 
to  the  last. 

You  are  tempted  sometimes  to  doubt  your 
perseverance  to  the  end.  I  believe  most  tho- 
roughly in  the  perseverance  of  saints.  I  do  not 
believe  that  a  person  can  be  a  Christian  to-day 
and  not  a  Christian  to-morrow.  And  yet  I  be- 
lieve that  the  Christian  who  is  so  has  his  eyes 
and  his  ears  open,  and  his  heart  ready  to  receive 
every  truth,  precept,  and  direction,  from  God's 
Holy  Word.  But  many  a  Christian  thinks,  "I 
feel  that  God  has  changed  my  heart;  that  He 
has  given   me  trust  in   that  precious  provision 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  TEMPI  ED.  240 

that  is  made  in  Zion.      But  I  fear,  when  I  look 

urouiid  at  all  the  perplexities  of  the  tinier  ;  at 

the  gathering  clouds  ;  at  the  electric  state  of  the 

socuil  atmosphere    about   us;  when  I  see  such 

difficulties  in  not  simply  living  well,  but  in  liv- 

iuir  at  all,  I  could  often  wish  that  the  sun  would 

go  back  some  twenty  degrees  upon  the  dial ;  and 

that  former  days  would  return,  when  one  had 

uot  to  struggle  so  much  for  bare  existence,  but 

had  a  little  time  to  take  thought  about  a  better 

existence."     You  are  looking  too   much  at  the 

difficulties,  too  little  to  our  Father   in  heaven, 

who  is  throned  above  the  floods,  and  rules  and 

reigns  in  the  midst  of  all.     You  are  assun-ing 

that  our  Father  is  God  upon  the  plains,  but  that 

he  is  not  God  upon  the  mountains, — that  lie  can 

keep  you  in  fair  weather,  but  that  lie  cannot 

sustain  you  in  the  storm.     He  is  equally  able  to 

keep  you  in  the  one  as  He  is  to  preserve  you  in 

the  other.      And  just  when   your  heart  is  upon 

the  very  verge  and  margin  of  temptation,  look 

up  ;  lift  up  your  head  to  Him  who  has  taught 
11^ 


250  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

you  to  pray,  and  therefore  promised  to  grant 
what  He  has  taught  you  to  ask,  "  Lead  me  not 
into  temptation."  God,  who  has  placed  you  in 
His  providence  where  you  are,  is  able  and  faith- 
ful to  keep  you  by  His  grace  just  what  you 
should  be.  If  He  has  placed  you  on  the  loftient 
pinnacle  of  the  temple.  He  is  able  to  beat  Satan 
off,  or  keep  you  from  falling.  Never  forget  that 
wherever  God  in  His  providence  has  sent  you, 
there  God  in  His  grace  will  preserve  and  sustain 
you.  He  never  places  you  in  what  is  actually 
and  positively  sinful ;  but  He  often  places  you 
in  what  is  exceedingly  trying.  I  have  met  with 
young  men  who  have  said  they  meet  with  such 
difficulties  in  their  situation  that  they  really 
fear  they  cannot  serve  God  in  it.  I  have  always 
asked  them  to  reflect  whether  what  they  feel  may 
not  be  the  incipient  cowardice  that  would  flee 
from  the  post  of  peril  or  toil,  under  the  cover  of 
a  desire  to  serve  God  in  a  more  convenient  and 
suitable  situation.  If  God  has  placed  us  in  His 
providence  just  where  we  are,  there  we  are  war- 


THE  CRY  OF  TUB  TEMPTED.  251 

ranted  to  ask  Him  to  lead  ns  not  into  tempta- 
tion, and  to  keep  we  from  falling. 

Let  me  notice  here  what  is  so  very  interesting, 
and  what  we  have  alluded  to  in  almost  every 
petition.  It  is  not,  "Lead  me  not  into  tempta- 
tation,"  but  "Lead  us  not  into  temptation." 
The  missionary  spirit  runs  through  the  whole  of 
this  Prayer.  Not  one  petition  is  addressed  from 
the  individual  that  does  not  also  combine  all 
that  believe  in  Jesus,  and  desire  to  reach  that 
rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  Grod.  And 
hence  it  is  a  very  beautiful  thought,  that  ever  as 
you  pray  this  Prayer,  you  may  conceive  the 
whole  company  of  God's  people  gathered  round 
you,  and  praying  with  you.  The  queen  prays  in 
her  closet,  "  Our  Father,  lead  us  not  into  temp- 
tation," and  the  dews  of  blessing  descend  upon 
the  most  sequestered  hamlets  of  the  land  over 
which  she  rules.  The  parent  ciies  in  his  home, 
"  Our  Father,  lead  us  not  into  temptation,"  and 
his  prayer  is  answered  in  blessings  wider  than 
the  limits  of  the  home  that  he  rules.      The  min- 


252  TEACH  f'S  TO  PRAY. 

ister  prays,  and  tlie  most  suftering,  sequestered, 
and  meanest  members  of  liis  flock  share  in  tlie 
dews  of  the  blessing  that  he  imprecates.  TJiis 
Prayer  breathed  by  the  Christian  now,  like  seed 
sown  in  liis  life-time,  grows  up  upon  his  grave 
after  he  lias  been  gathered  like  a  shock  in  sea- 
son to  everlasting  garners  ;  and  those  that  are 
behind  him  are  blessed.  Some  poor,  aged  wo- 
man, bedridden,  with  scarce  a  visit  of  sympnthy 
or  comfort  from  Monday  to  Saturday,  cries  on 
that  sufiPering  sick-bed,  "  Our  Father,  lead  us 
not  into  temptation  ;"  and  the  statesman  at  the 
helm  in  the  midst  of  the  storm  is  better  for  her 
prayer,  and  the  minister  in  the  pulpit  is 
stronger  that  she  has  prayed  so,  and  cabinets 
at  their  wits'  end  are  refreshed  by  her  humble 
and  lowly  litany.  And  no  one  can  pray,  how- 
ever mean,  for  himself,  without  the  joyons 
assurance  that  that  prayer,  lifted  like  a  lone 
whisper  from  a  lowly  home,  is.  descending  in 
echoes  of  cheering  music  upon  thousands  of  the 
homes   and    the   inhabitants   of  the    land.      In 


THE  CRY  OF   THE  TEMPTED.  253 

answer  to  this  prayer  God  may  not  remove 
us  from  trial,  but  lie  will  always  give  us  what 
is  better.  A  striking  illustration  of  this  is  tliu 
case  of  the  Apostle  Paul.  He  prayed  that  that 
thorn,  the  vord  that  he  uses  to  denote  sime 
great  affliction,  whatever  it  was,  might  be  taken 
from  him.  What  was  the  answer?  ISTot,  "I 
will  take  away  the  trial,"  but,  "  I  will  do  what 
is  far  better.  My  grace  is  sufficient  for  you." 
God  does  not  answer  our  prayers  always  in  the 
pay  that  we  prescribe,  or  always  in  the  way  in 
which  we  expect  the  answer,  but  he  always  and 
everywhere  answers  them  substantially.  If  a 
man  pay  you  ten  pounds,  you  expect  that  he 
will  pay  you  ten  sovereigns,  but  if  he  choose  to 
pay  in  a  £10  bank  note,  or  in  shillings,  or  in 
pence,  it  is  of  no  consequence  ;  it  is  equally  the 
same.  You  ask  of  God  to  give  you  a  blessing, 
you  anticipate  that  that  blessing  w"ill  come  in 
one  shape  and  at  one  time.  God  will  not  sub- 
mit to  yon,  you  are  prescribing  to  Him,  yet  He 
will  answer.     No  prayer   is  ever   breathed    to 


25-4  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

heaven  from  a  lowly,  trusting  heart,  that  is  not 
answered  ;  but  the  time  of  the  answer,  the  shape 
of  the  answer,  the  weight  and  magnificence  of 
the  answer,  His  love.  His  wisdom,  will  deter- 
mine, as  may  be  most  expedient.  ISTou  if  one 
can  just  go  away  with  that  thought,  that  what- 
ever we  have  asked  we  are  sure  to  get,  and  if 
not  deliverance  from'  the  trial,  we  shall  have 
what  is  far  better,  strength  to  be  victorious  over 
it,  then  be  still,  be  patient,  trust  in  the  Lord  ; 
wait  patiently  for  Him,  and  he  will  bring  it  to 
pass.  It  is  some  comfort  to  us  that  there  is  not 
a  saint  in  glory  that  does  not  look  like  a  I)rand 
that  has  been  plucked  from  the  buining  ;  there 
is  not  a  Christian  beside  the  throne  at  this  mo- 
ment that  is  an  original  native  there.  All  the 
saved  in  heaven  are  immigrants.  And  whence 
did  they  come  ?  They  came  out  of  gi-ent 
tribulation,  out  of  heavy  trials ;  but  they  have 
washed  their  robes,  and  made  them  clean  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb.  And  what  was  the  element 
of  their  victory  ?^  "  They  overcame  through  the 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  TEMPTED  255 

blood  of  the  Lamb."  How  magnificent  is  that 
thought !  They  overcame  not  by  the  strength 
of  their  faith,  not  by  their  being  spared  the 
trial ;  but  they  overcame  through  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb.  And  that  others  are  tempted  as  we 
are,  we  find  in  God's  word  plain  enough.  Jesus 
was  tempted  by  Mary  at  the  marriage  feast  of 
Caua  of  Galilee.  He  was  tempted  by  the  dis- 
ciples, when  they  tried  to  prevent  Him  suffering. 
He  was  tempted  by  the  lawyer  and  the  Pharisee 
in  respect  to  the  Sabbath.  He  speaks  of  all  His 
pathway  from  the  manger  to  the  cross  as  His 
temptation.  And  at  the  first  communion  table 
that  He  instituted.  He  saw  the  traitor.  He  read 
his  thoughts  ;  He  scanned  his  malignant  pas- 
sions, his  wicked  designs,  his  impure  motives, 
purposes,  and  ends.  Yet  mark  the  patience,  the 
quiet,  the  bearing  and  forbearing ;  the  tender- 
ness with  which  He  indicated  to  the  rest  the  ter- 
rible evil  that  was  then  and  there  in  the  midst  of 
them.  Jesus  was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as 
we  are  ;  and  yet  He  was  not  led  into  temptation. 


256  TEACH  US  To  FRAY. 

Martin  Lutber  has  well  said,  "  Prayer  and  tempt- 
ation make  a  true  minister  of  Christ." 

God  knows  our  frame  ;  He  will  not  suffer  us 
to  be  tempted  above  what  we  are  able  to  bear. 
We  should  alwaj^s  inaugurate  a  change  of  cir- 
cumstances with  prayer  and  watchfulness,  light- 
ing the  camp-fires  of  the  one,  and  planting  the 
sentinels  of  the  other.  Nero,  as  the  pupil  of 
Seneca,  was  mild  and  amiable,  but,  as  Emperor 
of  Rome,  was  an  execrable  monster.  Mary, 
Queen  of  England,  in  her  youth  was  a  gentle 
and  aflfectionate  princess.  Her  history  on  the 
throne  is  written  in  bluod.  Kobespierre,  in  his 
early  days,  was  humane  and  tender,  and  sensi- 
tive. His  latter  days  were  stained  with  terrible 
atrocities  and  murders. 

Circumstances  have  much  to  do  with  charac- 
ter. If  you  could  command  the  place  you  wish, 
you  would  be  ruined.  In  the  future  I'est  we  shall 
have  to  thank  God  for  many  an  unanswered 
prayer. 


THE  GREA T  DELI  VERER.  257 


VI. 

THE  OBEAT  DELIVERER. 
«'  But  deliver  us  from  evil."— Matt.  vi.  11. 

I  RECAPITULATE  becaiise  I  want  to  impress  the 
many  precious  truths   we  have   gathered  from 
each  cLause  of  this  most  comprehensive  and  in- 
structive Prayer,  a  prayer  I   stated  which   liad 
these  remarkable  features,  that  in  one  Gospel  it 
is,  "  After  this  manner  pray  ye,"  to  show  that 
the  spirit  and  the  thouglit,  not  the  words,  are 
the    main    thing.      In    another    Gospel    it    is, 
"When  ye  pray  say,"  to   denote  that  the  words 
are  so  precious  as  vehicles  of  thought  that  we 
cannot  select  more  appropriate,  we  therefore  do 
well    to    employ   the    very   words   that   Christ 
Himself  has  provided,   so   simple  that  a  child 
mav    understand    them,   so   significant  that   the 
ripest  saint  is  never  weary  in  employing  them. 


25S  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

In  the  first  half  oi  it  we  have  the  fuUness  and 
tlie  riches  of  God,  "Thy  kingdom,  Thy  name, 
Thy  will  ;''  in  the  last  half  of  it  the  destitu- 
tion and  despondency  of  man,  "Give  us  bread, 
forgive  us  sin,  deliver  us  from  evil,  lead  us 
into  no  temptation."  In  the  first  half  of  it  you 
have  God  in  the  beautifnl  and  endearing  aspect 
of  a  Father.  The  distinctive  revelation  of 
Christianity  is  God  a  father.  In  nature  God  is 
throned  as  the  unapproachable  King  '  in  the  law 
He  is  opposed  to  us  as  the  ofi'ended  Judge  and 
Legislator;  in  Christ  He  is  revealed  as  the 
Father.  I  noticed  that  lest  selfishness  should 
creep  into  our  prayers  ;  we  are  taught  to  say  not 
"  Mij  Father,"  but  "  Our  Father."  In  order 
that  our  hearts  may  be  lifted  above  the  footstool 
where  we  kneel  to  that  throne  before  which  we 
cry,  we  say,  "  Our  Father  in  heaven."  "  Father," 
tlu-  Fatherhood  of  God;  "Our  Father,"  the 
brotherhood  of  all  believers;  "Our  Father  in 
heaven,"  that  is  our  eternal  home  and  our  happy 
rest.     I  noticed  next,  "  Hallowed    be  thy  name, 


THE    GREAT  DELIVERER.  259 

thy  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done,"  as  involv- 
ing the  great  doctrine  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Gliost.  The  first  clause  is  the  manifestation  of 
what  may  be  called  a  filial  spirit,  "  Our  Father, 
which  art  in  heaven."  The  second  clause  may 
be  regarded  as  the  exhibition  of  an  adoring 
spirit ;  "  Hallowed  be  thy  name."  The  third 
clause  may  be  regarded  as  the  expression  of  a 
missionary  spirit ;  "  Thy  kingdom  come."  The 
next  clause  is  the  evidence  of  a  dependent  spirit, 
"Give  us  daily  bread."  The  next  the  evidence 
of  a  penitent  spirit,  "  Forgive  us  our  debts  as  we 
forgive  our  debtors."  The  next  of  a  cautious 
spirit,  "  Lead  us  not  into  temptation  ;"'  and  the 
last  is  the  crowning  cry  that  embosoms  all  the 
rest,  "Deliver  us  from  all  the  evils  that  we 
dread  ;  introduce  us  into  all  the  joys  and  the 
blessings  that  we  need ;  and  that  thou  art  able  to 
do  so  is  evident,  for  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and 
the  power,  and  the  glory."  Tlie  child's  first  cry 
is,  the  Christian's  earnest  appeal,  "  Our  Father." 
The  kingdom  of  grace  flovrs  into  the  infant  heart, 


260  TEACH  us  TO  PRAY. 

then  the  infant  learns  and  lores  the  will  of  the 
Father  ;  then  to  eat  bread,  and  to  seek  a  bless- 
ing on  it,  and  to  look  np  and  give  thanks  for  it. 
Then  there  grows  as  it  gets  older  a  deep  sense  of 
sin,  that  cries  for  pardon  ;  then  there  is  per- 
ceived a  sense  of  weakness,  that  prays,  "  Lead  us 
not  into  temptation."  There  is  finally  the  last 
cry  of  grey  hairs,  whitening  with  the  sunshine  of 
the  approaching  glory,  and  ready  to  bid  farewell 
to  time,  to  enter  upon  a  new  and  joyous  progres- 
sion in  eternity,  "  Now  deliver  us  from  evil,  tak- 
ing from  death  its  sting ;  from  the  grave  its 
victory."  There  is  also  a  parallelism  in  this 
prayer  with  the  benedictions  in  the  Gospel  ac- 
cording to  St.  Matthew.  The  name  of  the  Fa- 
ther is  hallowed  when  the  poor  in  spirit  feel  that 
they  are  so,  and  as  little  children  receive  the 
kingdom  of  God.  The  kingdom  of  Clirist  comes 
when  the  mourner  is  comforted.  The  divine  will 
is  done  when  the  meek  feel  that  they  are  the 
heirs  of  God.  Bread  is  given  when  we  hunger 
and  thirst  after   righteousness.     Trespasses   are 


TUE  GREAT  DELIVERER  £61 

foro-iven  when  we  find  ourselves  among  the  mer- 
ciful that  obtain  mercy.  Temptations  are  avoided 
Ly  the  pure  in  heart,  because  they  see  God  ;  and 
evil  is  done  away  when  the  children  of  God  are 
ranked  among  the  peace-makers,  and  all  disturb- 
ing and  disruptive  elements  are  removed  and 
put  to  a  distance  for  ever. 

In  the  last  three  clauses  of  this  Prayer  we 
first  feel  sin  within  us,  a  load,  a  burden,  a  curse ; 
and  we  cry,  after  the  knowledge  of  a  Saviour  in 
whose  blood  we  have  redemption,  "  Forgive  us 
our  debts  as  we  forgive  our  debtors."  We  then 
see,  after  we  are  forgiven,  temptations  around  us 
pressing  upon  us  from  every  point,  seeking  to 
seduce  us  from  the  w^ay,  the  truth,  and  the  life ; 
and  we  cry,  "  Lead  us  not  into  temptation." 
And  lastly,  we  see  evil  infecting  the  w^ide  world, 
tainting  its  air,  tarnishing  our  faith,  destroying 
our  peace,  everywhere,  around,  above,  beneath, 
we  see  and  feel  the  pressure  of  evil  ;  and  we  cry 
with  one  heart,  "Deliver  us  from  evil" 

I  know  nothing  so  magnificent  as  this  Prayer. 


262  TEACH  us  TO  PRAY. 

The  longer  one  studies  it,  like  a  rich  and  inex- 
haustible mine,  the  more  precious  and  pure  the 
ore  that  one  brings  up.  He  that  can,  not  say 
this,  hvitjpray  this,  is  and  must  be  a  Christian  in- 
deed. 

The  clause  before  us  in  this  lecture  is,  "  De- 
liver us  from  evil."  Then  evil  is  in  the  world. 
Who  doubts  it?  All  languages  have  a  word  for 
"evil;"  all  laws,  police,  army,  navy,  prisons, 
precautions,  indicate  there  is  in  the  world  wliat 
is  here  called  "  evil."  It  has  penetrated  every 
recess;  it  has  infected  every  spot;  it  is  tlie 
plague-spot  upon  all  that  is  in  this  world.  God 
once  made  it  so  fair.  Sin  has  so  deeply  in- 
fected it  by  its  poison.  It  seems  to  me  that 
every  section  of  living  creatures  cry,  what  tlie 
Christian  is  taught  by  God's  Holy  Spirit  to  pray, 
"  Deliver  us  from  evil."  The  new-born  babe,  as 
if  it  felt  the  evil  of  the  world  into  which  it  is 
come,  indicates  its  very  life  by  crying,  as  if  it 
prayed,  "Deliver  us  from  evil."  The  old  man, 
sinking    under    the   weight  of  years,    amid    his 


TEE  GREAT  DELIVERER.  2^3 

struggles  to  be  rid  of  their  pressure  ;  the  prisoner 
in  his  cell,  the  maniac  in  his  chains,  the  patient 
in  his  ward  ;  the  sweat  of  toil    upon    the    brow 
and  the  tear  of  sorrow  in  the  eye  ;   the   broken 
and  the  bruised  in  heart ;  all  join,  whatever  be 
their  distinctions  of  rank,  of  place,  pre-eminence, 
talent,  or  character,  and  all  cry  at  once  in  the 
words  of  this  universal  litany,  "  Deliver  us  from 
evil."    What  is  medicine  ?    Man  trying  to  answ^er 
the  cry  of  the  sick,  "  Deliver  me  from  evil."   What 
is  legislation  ?     The  ruler  striving  by  the  inven- 
tions of  his   genius    to    introduce   good,  and  to 
emancipate  the  subject  from  evil.    What  are  the 
soldier,    the    sailor,  war,  battle,  but  the  organs 
through    which    humanity,    weak    and    weary, 
strives  and  struggles  to  emancipate  and  deliver 
itself  from  evil.      What  is  laborious   industry  ? 
Man   perceiving   the    approach  of  famine,   and 
trying  to  deliver  himself  from  it.     What  is  the 
discontent  of  the  poor,  the  restlessness  of  the 
rich,  the  ostentatious  schemes  of  the  clever,  the 
prescriptions  of  the  empiric,  and  the  reason  of 


-_J 


264  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

their  popularity  too  ;  but  man's  yearning  crj^, 
"  Deliver  us  from  evil ;"  and  liis  either  attempt- 
ing, or  professing,  or  promising  to  accomplisli 
what  lie  wants.  What  are  colleges,  and  scliools, 
and  academies,  but  our  efforts  to  deliver  our- 
selves from  evil ;  and  the  expressions  of  our 
inmost  heart  that  we  are  wrestling  and  strug- 
gling with  it.  The  prayer  is  breathed  in  every 
sigh,  it  rises  from  every  color  and  complexion 
of  human  life.  From  the  snows  of  Lapland, 
from  the  burning  sands  of  Senegal,  from  Mos- 
lem, Buddhist,  Hindoo,  and  Christian  ;  from 
palace  and  hut,  from  castle  and  subterranean 
mine,  from  the  soldier  in  the  camp,  from  the  be- 
sieo-ed  in  the  citadel,  from  the  sailor  on  the  deck, 
from  the  merchpt  on  the  Exchange,  there  is  felt 
or  uttered  one  loud  cry,  "Deliver  us  from  evil." 
Wliat  explains  the  card-table,  the  theatre,  the 
ball-room,  the  romance,  and  the  intense  and  ab- 
sorbing devotedness  to  each  or  to  all  ?  ]\[an 
trying  to  deaden  his  sense  of  the  evil,  and  applying 
in  his  ignorance  to  broken  cisterns  in  order  to  be 


THE  GREAT  DELIVERER.  £65 

delivered  from  it.  The  miser  prays  to  his  gold, 
the  student  to  his  books,  the  heathen  to  his  idols, 
the  Christian  to  his  Father,  "Deliver  us  from 
evil."  All  creation  too,  says  the  apostle,  feels 
itself  bound  by  the  presence  and  the  pressure  of 
an  irresistible  evil;  for  he  says,  "The  creature 
itself  was  made  subject  to  vanity  ;  for  the  earnest 
expectation  of  the  creature  waiteth  for  the  mani- 
festation of  the  sons  of  God  j  because  creation 
itself  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  cor- 
ruption into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children 
of  God.  For  we  all  know  that  the  whole  creation 
groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until 
now  ;  waiting  for  the  adoption,  to  wit,  the  re- 
demption of  the  body."  What  are  storms,  volca- 
noes, earthquakes,  but  the  throes  of  nature  in  her 
agony  to  be  freed  from  evil  ?  The  evidence  of  an 
all-present  evil  is  palpable.  The  cry  of  all, 
"  Deliver  us  from  evil,"  is  the  evidence  of  a  fact, 
that  evil  is  not  the  natural,  or  the  normal,  or  the 
original  condition  of  things.  If  evil  was  origi- 
nally made  by  God  ;  if  evil  be  part  and  parcel 
12 


266  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

of  the  original  terrestrial  or  celestial  economy  ; 
then  to  pra}'  to  be  delivered  from  it  is  to  pray  to 
be  disentangled  from  the  very  laws  and  necessi- 
ties of  our  existence.  But  the  very  fact  tliat 
even  the  creature  in  his  blindness  sees  evil  is 
something  external  to  God's  once  beautiful  and 
blessed  world,  is  proof  that  evil  was  not  origin- 
ally made  by  God.  Man  refuses  to  settle  down 
into  the  wretched  Pantheistic  notion  of  the  Ger- 
man Rationalist,  that  evil  is  unripe  good ;  and 
that  if  you  leave  sin  long  enough  in  the  sweet 
sunshine,  it  will  ripen  into  virtue  ;  or  if  you 
leave  it  long  enough  and  alone  in  the  human 
heart,  it  will  develope  itself  into  love ;  if  you 
leave  murder  long  enough  in  the  world  it  will 
develope  itself  into  brotherly  kindness.  German 
Rationalism  must  be  surely  in  the  very  dregs  of 
its  folly  when  it  can  entertain  such  nonsense ; 
and  still  more,  propagate  and  publish  it.  This 
world  was  made  fair,  beautiful,  and  liappy. 
Man's  heart  was  meant  to  bound  for  ever,  never 
to  be  broken  ;  the  eye   was  not  made  for  tears, 


THE  GREAT  DELIVERER.  967 

nor  had  the  heart  originally  a  recess  for  sorrow. 
"We  were  made  to  be  happy ;  to  live  for  ever ;  to 
be  immortal,  yomig  ;  growing  in  joy,  in  approx- 
imation to  God,  in  happiness,  for  ever  and  ever. 
Every  grey  hair  that  steals  amid  the  dark  is  evi- 
dence that  sin  has  entered ;  every  wrinkle  that 
comes  on  the  face,  every  sense  of  feebleness  in 
the  limb,  every  tear  that  starts  into  the  eye, 
every  pang  of  which  the  frame,  the  sensitive 
frame,  is  conscious,  are  irresistible  witnesses  that 
something  lias  gone  wrong.  I  repeat  what  I  have 
often  said,  if  I  believed  that  God  made  the  world 
just  as  it  is,  and  me  just  as  I  am,  I  should  infer 
that  the  God  that  made  it  was  a  monster,  a  cruel 
and  an  unpropitiated  tyrant.  But  God  made  all 
that  is  happy  in  it;  and  the  creature  is  the 
source  of  all  that  is  wrong  in  it.  And  it  is  on 
this  ground  therefore  that  we  conclude  that  this 
earth  of  ours  is  not  to  be  destroyed ;  and  only 
what  the  devil  and  man  have  introduced  into  it 
are  to  be  removed.  Why  should  God  destroy 
it  ?     He  hates  nothing  that  He  has  made.     This 


268  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

earth  has  in  it  lingering  traces  of  its  aboriginal 
beauty,  so  many,  so  varied,  so  charming,  that 
one  M'ould  regret  the  destruction  of  such  a  fair 
and  beautiful  orb.  All  that  it  seems  to  me  to 
need  is  the  banishment  of  sin,  and  the  blessing 
of  the  great  sin  Forgiver  ;  in  order  that  its  des- 
erts may  rejoice,  and  its  solitary  places  blossom 
as  the  rose  ;  and  that  this  long  lost,  prodigal 
daughter,  restored  to  the  sisterhood  of  orbs, 
may  be  the  most  welcome,  the  fairest,  the  love- 
liest, and  the  most  instructive  of  all  the  worlds 
that  fill  infinite  space.  "We  have  spoken  of 
this  cry,  "Deliver  us  from  evil,"  as  the  cry 
of  all  intelligent,  animate,  and  inanimate  beings  ; 
evidencing  their  consciousness  of  an  alien  ele- 
ment, and  their  desire  to  be  emancipated  from 
it.  But  does  not  the  cry,  as  expressed  by  all 
created,  animate,  and  inanimate  beings,  suggest 
the  idea  and  hope  of  a  deliverer  ?  If  we  cry 
for  deliverance,  it  is  on  the  ground  that  we  have 
some  hope  or  some  lingering  traditional  recol- 
lection of  a  promise  that  there  will  be  a  deliver 


THE  GREAT  DELIVERER.  269 

ance.  And  most  true  it  is,  wherever  man  has 
believed  in  a  God,  he  has  believed  in  some 
shape  in  a  coming  deliverer.  The  very  cry  that 
rises  from  nature,  and  the  very  provisions  bO 
variously  made  to  emancipate  from  evil,  are  evi- 
dences that  in  the  depths  of  the  creature's  heart 
there  are  heard  sounding  the  echoes,  however 
mixed  or  diluted,  of  an  ancient  promise,  "  The 
woman's  seed  shall  bruise  the  serpent's  head ;" 
and  lingering  in  that  heart  too  the  fitful  sun- 
shine of  a  future  fact,  "  The  desire  of  all  nations 
shall  come  to  his  temple ;"  and  its  latter  glory 
shall  be  greater  than  its  first  in  Paradise.  But 
the  people  of  God,  as  distinguished  from  all  to 
whom  we  have  alluded,  lift  up  this  prayer  intel- 
ligently, in  the  name  of  Him  that  taught  it,  and 
addressed  as  it  is  to  Him  in  whose  fatherhood 
they  have  planted  their  faith,  their  afi'ections, 
and  their  hopes  ;  "  Our  Father,  deliver  us  from 
evil."  What  the  nations  have  addressed  to  gods 
many  ;  what  some  have  addressed  to  mammon  ; 
others  to  philosophy ;  the  Christian  feels,  and 


270  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

accei^ts  as  the  adopted  litany  of  all  the  children 
of  God,  and  therefore  he  prays  in  hope,  in  love, 
and  in  faith,  "Deliver  us  from  evil."  He  is  not, 
like  the  pantheist,  regarding  sin  as  nnripe  good  ; 
he  will  not  be  a  Stoic,  trying  to  be  insensible  to 
its  presence  ;  nor  the  Epicurean,  determined  to 
luxuriate  in  the  practice  of  it ;  but  the  Christian  ; 
'•  Our  Father,  deliver  us  from  evil,"  and  not  by 
evil ;  "  and  introduce  us  into  everlasting  good." 
And  the  Christian  feels,  what  nature  seems  to 
indicate,  that  God  is  not  the  author  of  evil,  be- 
cause he  asks  him  to  be  the  deliverer  from  it. 
If  God  were  the  author  of  evil,  to  ask  Him  to 
deliver  from  it  would  be  like  asking  Satan  to 
cast  out  Satan.  The  very  prayer  implies  that 
evil  is  the  thing  God  hates,  the  element  that 
God  did  not  introduce  ;  the  pain  that  the  Chris- 
tian feels,  and  from  which  he  prays  to  that 
Father  to  deliver  him.  In  the  Christian's 
prayer,  "Our  Father,  deliver  us,"  God  is  re- 
garded as  a  personal  Being ;  not  as  fate,  or 
destiny,  but   as   "  Our  Father ;"  not    the  crea 


THE   GREAT  DELIVERER.  271 

ture,  but  the  Creator ;  not  law,  but  the  Legis- 
lator ;  and  reinstated  first  in  his  relationship  tc 
him  as  our  Father,  he  proceeds  to  ask  of  Him, 
for  His  Son's  sake,  deliverance  from  evil.  But 
literally  translated  the  word  is,  "  Deliver  us  from 
the  evil ;"  the  definite  article  is  used.  And  this 
has  made  some  suppose  that  the  allusion  here  is 
to  Satan,  the  Wicked  One ;  and  that  it  means 
strictly  and  properly,  "  Deliver  us  from  the 
Wicked  One."  But  this  is  surely  to  limit  the 
word,  and  to  give  it  a  restricted  sense  it  ought 
not  to  have.  Satan  is  not  the  great  parent 
source  of  evil ;  he  is  but  the  agent,  the  powerful 
and  the  restless  agent  only,  in  that  which  is  evil. 
It  seems  rather  to  indicate  that  evil  is  the  root, 
that  much  we  call  in  our  ignorance  veil  may  not 
be  evil  at  all,  but  the  fruits  and  penalties  of  the 
evil  into  which  we  have  fallen.  It  is.  Deliver  us, 
not  from  plague,  from  pestilence,  from  famine  ; 
not  from  battle,  murder,  and  sudden  death  ;  but 
deliver  us  from  that  which  is  the  root  of  them 
all,  the  teeming  and  prolific  parent  of  whom  these 


272  TEACH  us  TO  PRAY. 

are  but  the  offspring  ;  the  terrible  sin  of  which 
these  are  the  penalties  and  the  punishments  and 
the  avengers.  Sin  is  the  monster  evil ;  these  are 
but  the  spreading  branches  that  result  from  it. 
If  we  are  delivered  from  the  evil,  then  these 
things  which  we  call  evils  cease  to  be  penalties 
inflicted  by  a  Judge  upon  criminals,  and  become 
chastisements  inflicted  by  a  Father  upon  loving 
and  beloved  and  redeemed  children.  And  when 
we  are  thus  delivered  from  the  evil,  we  are  de- 
livered from  that  which  gives  to  everything  its 
bitterness.  Pain,  sickness,  sorrow,  grief,  are  all 
felt  by  every  human  being ;  but  Christians  see 
in  them,  not  the  penalties  of  sin  inflicted  by  an 
offended  Judge,  but  the  chastisements  of  a  Pa- 
rent, sent  with  the  skill  of  a  physician  and  the 
affection  of  a  father,  to  sanctify,  to  subdue,  to 
wean  from  the  world,  and  win  for  immortality 
and  glory.  Sorrow,  and  sickness,  and  pain,  are 
altered  in  their  aspect  to  him  altogetlier ;  and 
the  cup  that  seemed  so  bitter  when  first  placed 
in  our  hand,  we  feel  so  sweet,  because  so  sancti 


THE  GREAT  DELIVERER  273 

fying,  in  the  light  of  a  Father's  countenance. 
Thus  delivered  from  the  evil,  we  find  the  sting 
is  taken  from  death.  We  die  like  the  rest  of 
mankind  ;  but  the  death  of  a  Christian  is  as 
distinct  and  separate  from  the  death  of  an  un- 
believer as  light  is  from  darkness,  as  holiness 
is  from  sin.  In  the  case  of  the  Christian  it  is 
the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  through  which 
he  marches;  and  the  shadow  that  death  casts 
upon  the  valley  indicates  that  even  death  him- 
self stands  in  the  sunshine  of  an  unsetting  sun, 
or  there  would  be  no  shadow  there.  But  the  un- 
believer walks  through  a  strange  and  untrodden 
desert,  without  sunshine  to  cheer  him,  or  a  shadow 
that  He  can  construe  as  an  evidence  of  hope. 
Death  has  a  sting  in  his  case  ;  it  has  no  sting  in 
ours.  And  therefore  you  pray  to  be  delivered 
not  from  sickness  nor  from  sorrow,  but  from  that 
which  is  the  root  and  the  spring  of  both  ;  that  is, 
sin.  It  is  the  fever  of  nature  ;  the  explosive  ele- 
ment throughout  creation  ;  the  root  of  war ;  the 

teeming  parent  of  plague,  and   pestilence,    and 
12* 


274  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

famine.      Let  us  not,  like  Pharaoh,  pray  to  be 
delivered  from  the  affliction  ;  but,  like  the  Chris 
tian,  pray  to  be   delivered   from   the    evil   that 
brings  the  affliction  on  the  world. 

In  this  prayer  we  pray  as  brethren.  We  do 
not  say,  "  Deliver  rne  from  evil,"  but  as  it  is  in- 
deed in  every  clause  of  this  most  beautiful  and 
comprehensive  prayer,  "  Deliver  us  from  evil." 
We  pray  in  the  sequestered  closet,  or  in  the  little 
sanctuary,  but  it  is  as  members  of  a  countless 
brotherhood.  We  pray,  but  our  hearts  are  in 
unison  with  the  hearts  of  all  that  believe  ;  and 
the  note  of  each  mingles  with  tlie  universal 
symphony,  and  out  of  every  sanctuary  through- 
out the  wide  world  met  and  assembled  together 
there  rises  this  cry,  "Deliver  us  from  evil." 
Successive  ages  from  Abel  onward  to  now  have 
cried,  "Deliver  us  from  evil;"  contemporaneous 
generations,  churches,  and  Christian  communi- 
ties, like  concentric  zones  around  the  globe,  lift 
up  their  eyes  and  hearts  to  Him  who  is  the  only 
Deliverer,  and  cry,  "  Deliver  us  from  evil."    And, 


THE  GREAT  DELIVERER  275 

oh  precious  thought !  the  dead  dust  beneath  the 
green  sods  of  every  church-yard,  sleeping,  not 
dead,  sleeping  in  Christ,  waiting  for  the  day 
when  His  breath  will  quicken  it  and  His  hand 
will  mould  it  into  more  than  its  pristine  glory, 
magnificence,  and  beauty  ;  cries  also  from  the 
grave,  "Deliver  us  from  evil."  And  the  saints 
that  are  before  the  altar,  asking,  "How  long?" 
join  the  cry  of  heaven  with  the  litany  of  earth, 
"  Deliver,  our  Father,  them  from  evil."  And 
when  we  offer  this  prayer,  we  have  the  assured 
conviction  in  the  fact  that  Christ  taught  it,  that 
the  same  will  also  answer  it.  A  time  draws 
near,  with  greater  speed  than  we  fancy,  when 
earth  shall  be  emancipated  from  all  its  evil,  when 
truth  shall  be  the  universal  creed,  when  might 
shall  be  synonymous  with  right,  when  the  grave 
shall  yield  up  its  every  tenant,  when  death,  de- 
nuded of  his  sting,  shall  disappear  from  the 
world  itself,  and  the  company  of  the  redeemed 
shall  come  down  like  the  new  Jerusalem,  or  like 
a  bride  adorned  for  the  bridegroom ;  and  there 


276  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

shall  be  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  wherein 
dwelleth  righteousness.  This  prayer  shall  cease 
to  be  offered,  when  earth  with  all  its  tenantry 
has  tasted  the  joyous  answer  to  every  clause  ; 
or  rather  this  prayer  will  be  translated  into 
praise,  and  instead  of  being  presented  from 
broken  hearts  as  a  piercing  and  ceaseless  litany, 
it  will  be  lifted  up  from  bounding  hearts  as  a 
ceaseless  and  a  joyous  anthem  ;  and  they  will 
say,  "  Our  Father  wliich  art  in  heaven,  thy  name 
is  hallowed  in  every  heart,  in  every  land,  in 
every  tongue.  The  kingdom  is  come  into  us, 
and  we  are  now  introduced  into  it,  the  universal 
kingdom,  for  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  have 
become  the  kingdom  of  our  God  and  of  His 
Christ.  Now  Thy  will  is  done  in  the  height  and 
in  the  depth,  above,  below,  around,  everywhere. 
Now  our  bread  ai  d  our  water  are  Amen  ;  that 
is,  made  sure.  Our  sins  are  forgiven,  we  are 
now  beyond  the  reach  of  temptation,  we  are  de- 
livered from  all  evil,"  and  the  Thy  with  which  the 
prayer  began,  sweeping  into  the  emptiness  of 


TEE  GREAT  DELIVERER.  277 

man,  emerges  again  from  the  us,  and  is  translated 
into  the  Thine:  "for  thine  is  the  kingdom  and 
the  power,  and  the  glory,  for  ever."  It  begins 
at  the  throne,  it  comes  down  to  earth;  it  fills 
earth  with  its  fulness,  it  returns  to  the  throne 
again.  It  begins  with  "  Thy  kingdom,  thy  will, 
thy  name ;"  the  Thy  empties  itself  into  the  tis, 
"Give  us,  and  forgive  us,  and  lead  us  not,  and 
deliver  us,"  and  then  it  ascends  and  is  trans- 
formed again  into  the  "  Thine  the  kingdom,  thine 
the  power,  thine  the  glory."  JLike  the  rainbow 
inverted,  not  as  it  is,  it  begins  in  the  heaven,  de- 
scends and  sweeps  in  its  beauty,  transforming  as 
it  touches,  the  earth;  returns  to  the  heaven 
again,  and  is  lost  in  the  presence  of  Him  in 
whom  is  fulness  of  joy,  and  pleasures  for  ever 
and  for  ever. 

Track  if  you  can  the  footprints  of  sin,  trace  if 
you  can  its  misery  to  its  primal  root,  watch  and 
remember  the  hopes  that  sin  has  blasted,  the 
fires  it  has  kindled  for  the  martyr,  the  dungeons 
it  has  built  for  the  prisoner,  the  hearths  it  haa 


278  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

made  desolate,  the  ties  it  has  snapped,  the  homes 
it  has  embittered,  the  souls  it  has  mined,  and 
when  you  have  comprehended  all  its  havoc,  and 
witnessed  all  its  trail  from  Paradise  until  now,  I 
am  sure  you  will  cry  with  intenser  feeling  than 
ever  you  breathed  the  prayer  before,  "  Deliver  us 
from  evil,"     Go,  in  the  next  place,  and   estimate 
the  price  paid  for  your  deliverance,  not  gold,  nor 
Rilver.  nor  any  such   corruptible   thing;,   but    the 
precious  blood  of  a  Lamb,  without  spot  and  with- 
out blemish.     Go  back  and  take  a  retrospect  of 
the  love  from  whose  bosom  a  Saviour  came,  judge 
that  agony  and  estimate  that  bloody  sweat,  follow 
Him  to  that  garden  where  human  nature  in  its 
terrible  struggle  gave  utterance   to  that    awful 
cry,  "  If  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass   from 
me,"  or  to  that  cross,  where  it  broke  forth  in  still 
more  terrible   and   overwhelming   words,    "  My 
God,  my  God,    why   hast   thou   forsaken    me  ?" 
Or  follow  him  to  the  garden  of  Arimathsea,  look 
into  that   grave    and   see  where   the  Lord  lay. 
And  when  you  have  learnt  at  what  a  price,  at 


THE  GREAT  DELIVERER.  279 

what  a  sacrifice,  by  what  tears  and  agonies,  and 
sorrows,  the  more  tremendous  because  associated 
with  Deity,  and  the  more  awful  because  no  hu- 
man plumb-line  can  fathom  them  ;  when  you 
see  at  what  a  price  your  souls  are  ransomed, 
pray,  gazing  upon  that  cross  as  you  never  gazed 
on  it  before,  deliver  us  from  evil."  Go  and  see 
tbe  beauty,  and  blessedness,  and  glory,  from 
which  sin  or  evil  would  drag  you  down  ;  look 
into  the  depth  and  horrors  of  the  hell,  which 
God  never  made,  but  which  evil  only  has  pre- 
pared for  them  that  are  its  victims ;  and  let 
fools  make  a  mock  of  sin,  let  German  Rational- 
ists call  it  unripe  good,  let  empiricism  prescribe 
its  nostrums,  let  evil  hearts  of  unbelief  cry, 
"  Peace,  peace,"  but  let  your  heart,  inspired  by 
another  feeling,  and  your  intellect  illuminated 
by  another  light,  pray  as  you  never  prayed  it 
before,  "  0  Lord,  purge  me  as  with  hyssop,  and 
I  sliall  be  clean  ;  yea,  wash  thou  me,  and  then  I 
shall  be  whiter  than  snow."  "  Oar  Father,  by 
the   blood  of  sprinkling   deliver   me    from    the 


280  TEACH  US  TO  FRAY. 

curse  of  sin,  by  thy  Holy  Spirit  deliver  me  from 
the  power  of  sin ;  and  hasten  that  blessed  day 
when  not  one  footprint  of  sin,  either  grave  of  the 
young  or  grave  of  the  aged,  shall  be  left  visible 
below,  and  not  one  taint  of  sin  shall  be  felt  in  a 
single  heart  ;  but  this  world,  disinfected,  puri- 
fied, emancipated,  restored,  shall  burst  into  a 
glory  before  which  the  glory  of  Eden  shall  look 
pale,  and  end  with  a  Paradise  grander,  more 
magnificent  and  lasting,  than  the  Paradise  with 
which  it  dawned." 

We  pray  that  our  hearts  may  be  delivered 
from  the  curse  of  sin.  This  remedy  lies  in  the 
cross  of  Christ,  not  in  tears  of  ouis  or  sufferings 
of  others.  We  cannot  pardon  onr  own  iniqui- 
ties, but  we  can  cry  to  Him  who  is  able,  and 
willing,  and  waiting  to  do  so. 

We  implore  deliverance  also  from  tlie  power 
of  sin  over  us, — sin  in  our  nature,  not  like  loose 
stones  on  a  road  that  may  be  easily  swept  away, 
but  like  the  gnarled  rootB  of  a  primaeval  forest, 
struck  deep  down. 


THE  GREAT  DELIVERER.  281 

There  is  evil  in  onr  thoughts.  If  you  covet, 
jon  steal ;  if  you  hate,  you  murder.  It  is  mercy 
to  the  sinner  that  his  sins  are  sometimes  suffered 
to  break  out,  for  then,  as  the  lava  that  rushes 
down  red-hot  from  the  mountain  cone  indicates 
what  is  within  the  volcano,  these  incidental  out- 
breaks show  us  what  we  are.  There  is  evil  in 
the  world.  Every  conversation  we  hear,  every 
newspaper  we  read,  every  breath  we  draw,  are 
charged  with  infecting  elements. 

There  is  in  each  of  us  a  besetting  sin ;  against 
it  we  are  specially  to  pray.  Do  you  ever  cry, 
"  I  am  proud  ;  humble  me.  I  am  greedy  ;  relax 
my  grasp,  and  open  my  heart.  I  am  ricb  and 
proud  ;  take  away  the  wealth,  or  take  away  the 
swelling  heart?' 

What  we  need  is  confidence  in  our  Father,  and 
we  shall  be  delivered  from  evil,  even  before  that 
day  when  the  everlasting  rest  shall  overflow  the 
weary  world,  and  the  Sabbath  of  a  thousand 
years  usher  in  the  Sabbath  that  has  no  end. 


282  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 


X. 

ADORATION. 

"  For  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  for  ever. 
Amen." — Matt.  vi.  13. 

The  more  I  have  studied  this  Prayer,  the 
more  I  have  been  struck  with  it  as  indirectly  a 
creed  containing  all  that  a  Christian  believes,  as 
directly  the  litany,  or  liturgy,  of  all  that  a  Chris- 
tian can  offer  of  prayer  and  adoration.  What  is 
not  the  least  beautiful  feature  is  the  filial  spirit 
that  pervades  it.  The  defect  that  runs  through 
the  best  and  the  most  unexceptionable  liturgies 
that  have  come  down  from  the  Nicene  age,  or 
from  the  age  of  the  Keformation,  or  since  (and 
there  is  nothing  human  that  is  perfect),  is  too 
much  deprecatory  pleading,  too  much  seemingly 
of  the  aspect  of  a  criminal  deprecating  the  thun- 
derbolt in  the  hand  of  the  avenging  Judge.      In 


ADORATION.  283 

tliis  there  is  nothing  of  that  sort.  The  child  is 
in  the  presence  of  our  Father;  a  sinful  child, 
a  guilty  child,  but  still  a  child,  seeking  from  a 
Father, — it  may  be  an  angry  Father,  but  still 
his  Father, — pardon  and  peace.  The  Christian 
is  not  a  criminal  in  the  dock  deprecating  the 
wrath  of  a  judge,  ready  and  rejoicing  to  consume 
him  ;  but  a  Christian  son  in  the  presence  of  a 
Father  seeking  that  blessing  which  the  Father  is 
more  willing  to  give  than  the  son  is  to  ask.  I 
like  therefore  that  chord  of  filial  love  that  runs 
through  this  liturgy,  welds  clause  to  clause,  and 
gives  beauty,  force,  and  cohesion  to  all. 

The  last  part  of  it  is,  "Thine  is  the  kingdom, 
the  power,  and  the  glory."  This  is  often  re- 
garded as  a  mere  close  to  the  prayer,  destitute 
of  any  special  meaning;  just  as  many  Christians 
add,  "  For  Christ's  sake,"  by  way  of  a  musical 
ending  to  their  petitions,  instead  of  urging  it  as 
the  ground,  ihe  reason,  the  why  and  the  where- 
fore, every  petition  should  be  heard,  and  an- 
swered exceeding  abundantly  above  all  we  can 


_ J 

284:  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

ask  or  think.  This  prayer  begins  with  Thy  j 
"Thy  kingdom,  thy  will,  thy  name:"  then  it 
empties  the  fullness  of  thy  into  the  emptiness  of 
us,  "Give  us,  forgive  us,  lead  us  not,  deliver 
us."  And  after  the  full  Thy  has  replenished  the 
empty  us^  it  ascends  to  the  place  whence  it 
came,  and  ends  in  Thy  again.  "  Thine  the  king- 
dom, thine  the  power,  thine  the  glory."  This 
prayer  has  its  birth  in  heaven,  its  blessed  effects 
upon  earth,  and  its  consummation  in  the  place 
whence  it  came, — the  presence  of  God.  There 
seems  almost  a  coincidence  between  this  prayer 
which  was  taught  us  by  David's  Son,  and  that 
prayer  which  was  breathed  of  old  by  David, 
when  he  said,  "Thine,  O  Lord,  is  the  greatness, 
and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  and  the  victory, 
and  the  majesty ;  for  all  that  is  in  heaven  and  in 
the  earth  is  thine ;  thine  is  the  kingdom,  O  Lord, 
and  thou  art  exalted  as  head  above  all.  Both 
riches  and  honor  come  of  thee,  and  thou 
reignest  over  all ;  and  in  thine  hand  it  is  to 
make  great,  and  to  give  strength  unto  all.     Now 


ADORATION,  285 

therefore,  our  God,  we  thank  thee,  and  praise 
thy  glorious  name." 

When   all  have  prayed  for  and  seen  realized 
the  blessings  contained  in  this  Prayer,  there  will 
be  no  more  prayer  :  when  the  kingdom  is  come  ; 
when  that  name  is  hallowed;  when  that  will  is 
done;  when  all  are  forgiven,   and  all  are  fed, 
and  all  are  safe  from  temptation,  and  all  are  de- 
livered  from    evil ;    then   the    praj'er   that   has 
been  breathed  from  broken  hearts  and  expressed 
with  stammering  lips  in  every  century  and  part 
of  Christendom,  will  rise  into  the  jubilant  swell 
of  the  everlasting  anthem  of  praise  and  honor: 
"  Thine,    O   Lord,  is   the   kingdom ;    thine   the 
power  and  glory ;  for  ever  and  ever."     It  will 
rise  and  roll  in  waves  of  harmony  among  the 
numbers   of  the  saved,  out   of  many  tongues, 
and   nations,  and   kindreds;  as   the  voice  of  a 
great    multitude,    and   as   the    voice    of    many 
waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  mighty  thunderings, 
saying,  "Hallelujah!  the  Lord  God  omnipotent 
reigneth.      Thine   is   the   kingdom,    and    Thou 


2S6  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

reignest ;  Thine  the  power  and  Thine  the  glorv 
of  alL*'  David  says  at  the  close  of  the  72nd 
Psalm,  what  is  often  not  noticed  when  the 
Psalm  is  read  or  sang:  '-The  prayers  of  David 
the  son  of  Jesse  are  ended."  AVTien  were  they 
ended  ?  In  the  Terse  before  he  tells  ns  :  **  And 
blessed  be  his  glorions  name  for  ever :  let  the 
whole  earth  be  filled  with  his  glory.  Amen  and 
Amen.''  Then,  "the  prayers  of  David  the  son 
of  Jesse  are  ended.^  That  is,  now  that  the 
whole  earth  is  filled  with  glory,  and  a  lond 
Amen  swells  from  every  lip  as  it  is  felt  in  every 
heart,  David's  prayers  are  finished ;  and  the 
mediatorial  and  intercessory  prayers  of  David's 
Son  will  be  finished  also;  for  earth  will  be 
reunited  to  heaven,  and  this  broken-off  island 
earth,  knit  once  more  to  the  grand  continent  of 
glory,  shall  constitute  one  great  home,  one  na- 
tive land  ;  the  meeting  place  of  all  that  have 
gone  before,  of  all  that  remain,  and  of  all  that 
will  be  gathered  home  to  the  one  flock  and  the 
one  fold. 


ADORA  TION.  287 

This  concluding  clause  is  preceded  by  ''^  For  f 
"  For  tliine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and 
the  glory,  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen."     What 
does  this  imply  ?      It  is  a  reason.     Does  not  this 
snggest  that  a  Christian's  prayer  is  a  reasonable 
prayer  ;  and  that  he  is  warranted  in  assigning  in 
the  course  of  that  prayer  a  reason,  provided  it 
be  scriptural,  why  God  should    answer  ?      If  it 
be  urged,  this  seems  somewhat  bold  ;  it  does  so  ; 
but  it  is  the  very  boldness  that  an  apostle  presses 
when  he  says,   "Let  us  come  with  boldness  to 
the  throne  of  grace  ;"  and  in  another  place,  "Hav- 
ing boldness   of  access."     The    word    \vq  have 
translated  loldness  means  literally  "  freedom  of 
speech  and  utterance."     If  one  goes  into  the  j^re- 
sence  of  a  very  great  or  eminent  man  one  often 
feels  a  want  of  freedom  of  utterance  ;  you  do  not 
feel  at  home,  to  use  a  common  expression  ;  you 
cannot  speak  out  as  you  think,  or  as  you  would. 
But  the  apostle  says,  you  need  not  have  any  such 
feeling  when  you  go  into  God's  presence.    lie  is 
indeed  the  Holy,  Boly,  Holy  One  of  Israel ;  but 


288  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

He  is  also  our  Father;  and  we  have  a  Great 
High  Priest,  an  Elder  Brother,  in  His  presence. 
"Therefore,"  he  says,  "  let  us  come  boldly  to  the 
throne  of  grace  ;  you  may  reason  with  God,  when 
you  ask  these  blessings,  thine  is  the  kingdom, 
and  the  power  and  the  glory  ?"  The  deepest 
reason  why  God  should  answer  the  petitions  of 
His  people  is  in  Himself ;  not  in  us.  We  plead 
not  our  wants,  our  sins,  our  sufferings ;  but  His 
might.  His  greatness.  His  glory.  And  when  we 
take  this  idea  with  us,  '■'Thine  is  the  kingdom, 
and  the  power,  and  the  glory,"  we  learn  this 
precious  truth,  that  these  blessings  are  indeed 
too  great,  too  weighty,  too  many,  for  us  to  ask  ; 
but  they  are  neither  too  great,  nor  too  weighty, 
nor  too  many,  for  God  to  give.  "  For  thine,  O 
Lord,  is  the  kingdom,  thine  the  power,  and  thine 
the  glory."  Abraham  of  old  pleaded  this  when 
he  liunor  over  doomed  and  devoted  Sodom,  and 
asked,  "Wilt  thou  destroy  the  righteous  with 
the  wicked  ?"  Moses  pleaded  for  the  safety  of 
Israel  on  this  very  ground  ;    "  For   thine   own 


ADORATION.  289 

name's  sake."  And  the  Christian,  when  he  be- 
gins this  Prayer,  first  refers  to  God's  glory  be- 
fore he  ventures  to  lay  bare  his  own  wants.  The 
prayer  does  not  begin,  "  Give  us  daily  bread  ; 
forgive  us  our  sins ;"  and  then,  "  Thy  name  be 
hallowed  ;  thy  kingdom  come."  The  Cliristian 
feels  that  he  can  wait  till  to-morrow  before  his 
wants  are  supplied;  but  that  God  must  not  wait 
a  second  before  glory  and  honor,  and  the  king- 
dom, and  the  power,  be  ascribed  and  given  to 
Him.  In  other  words,  we  seek  first  God's  king- 
dom and  His  righteousness ;  and  all  other  things 
are  added  unto  us.    * 

In  my  remarks  on  the  first  clause  I  intimated 
that  there  was  at  least  the  shadow  of  a  Trinity  in 
the  three  first  petitions.  "Hallowed  be  thy 
name ;  thy  kingdom  come  ;  thy  will  be  done  in 
earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven."  Here  there  seems 
the  same  recurring  thought.  "Thine  is  the 
kingdom."  "Thy  kingdom,  O  Lord,  nileth  over 
all."  "  We  will  speak  of  the  majesty  of  tliy  king- 
dom." Then,  secondly,  "  Thine  is  tlie  power ;" 
13 


290  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

the  power  of  the  Son.  "  All  power  is  given 
unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth  ;  go  yo  there- 
fore, and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 
"And  thine  is  the  glory  ;"  the  glory  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  who  I'eveals  what  God  is  ;  God  heing 
glorified  just  in  proportion  as  He  is  revealed. 
And  therefore  it  is,  "unto  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost,  be  the  glory  and  the  honor,  the  kingdom 
and  the  power ;  as  it  was  in  the  beginning,  is 
now,  and  ever  shall  be,  world  without  end." 
But  it  has  been  asked  by  some,  where  and  in 
what  part  of  the  Prayer  do  we  find  the  inter- 
cession, the  atoning  and  meritorious  deatli,  the 
name  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  Mediator?  It  is 
ti'ue — perfectl}",  literally,  strictl}''  true — that  the 
greatest  prayer,  the  most  earnestly  uttered,  will 
not  reach  heaven  except  through  Christ;  and  on 
the  other  hand,  the  least  prayer  that  is  uttered 
from  the  heart  will  reach  heaven  if  presented  in 
His  name,  and  in  the  golden  cen?er  of  His  all  pre- 
vailing intercession.  But,  you  ask,  where  is  His 
name  here?     First,  He  framed  it;  every  clause 


ADORATION.  £91 

is  His  utterance.     His  word  is  the  key-note  ;  His 
thoughts  are  in  it ;  every  clause  is  perfumed  by 
the  incense  of  His  presence  ;  every  petition  is 
written   in  His    precious   blood.     When  it  was 
offered  upon  earth,  He  was  the  speaker  ;  His 
presence.  His  name,  His  intercession,  were  all 
in  it,  and  continue  in  it  still.     It  looks  like  the 
mysterious  ladder  that  Jacob  saw  in  his  dream 
stretching  from  heaven  and  resting  on  the  earth. 
We  first  come  down  fi'om   the  bosom   of  God, 
"Our  Father;"  praying  upon  earth,  "Give  us 
bread  ;  forgive  ns  our  sin>:."    We  then  rise  again 
to  the  bosom  of  God,  our  Father,  ending,  "Thine 
is    the   kingdom;  thine    the   power;    thine    the 
glory ;"    and    prayers    and    answers,    like    the 
angels  that  the  Patriarch  saw,  descending  and 
ascending,  from  "Our  Father"  to  "  Amen,"  up- 
on Jesus,  the  Son  of  man.     Therefore  Christ  is  in 
every  clause ;  Christ  in  the  cry,  "  Our  Father  ;" 
Christ  in  tlie  petition,  "  Forgive  us  ;"  Christ  in 
the  anthem-peal,  "  Thine  the  kingdom  ;  the  power 
and  the  glory  is  thine." 


292  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

Let  us  now  weigli  well  the  three  element^;  tliat 
are  here  ascribed  to  God  ;  "  the  kingdom,  tlie 
power  and  tlie  glory,"  Eacli  is  a  reason  why 
prayer  should  be  answered.  "Thine  is  ttic  king- 
dom." All  the  resources  of  the  kingdom  are  at 
Thy  disposal ;  all  the  contents  of  sovereignty, 
wider  than  sceptre  can  sway,  are  before  Thee. 
Thine  is  royal  abundance,  Tliine  is  royal  ninnifi- 
cence.  Satan  is  a  usurper  ;  Thine  is  the  king- 
dom,— cast  him  out.  Sin  is  an  intrusion,  an  in- 
terpolation ;  not  made  by  God,  thrust  in  by 
Satan  ;  Thine  is  the  kingdom, — disinfect  the 
world  of  it.  Thine,  not  Satan's  is  the  kingdom. 
His  it  is,  to  a  great  extent  in  present  possession ; 
but  it  is  the  possession  of  the  usurper,  not  the 
right  of  the  lawful  king  and  monarch.  And 
therefore  let  the  T^oman,  listening  to  Jesus  as 
lie  uttered  these  words,  "Thine  is  the  king- 
dom," thinking  of  his  victorious  eagles,  and  say- 
ing in  his  heart,  "  Ceesar's  is  the  kingdom," 
learn  he  is  wrong;  "For  thine,  O  Lord,  is  the 
kingdom."     Let   the  Herodian    who   stood    by. 


ADORATION  293 

and  believed  that  Herod's  was  the  kingdom, 
and  gave  the  Idumaeau  all  the  praise,  the  glory, 
and  the  honor,  while  God  smote  him,  learn, 
not  Herod's,  but  thine  is  the  kingdom."  These 
were  puppets  of  a  day ;  "  thine  is  the  king- 
dom for  ever."  Let  the  modern  Konianist 
ascribe  the  kingdom  to  him  he  calls  in  his  igno- 
rance the  Yicar  of  Christ ;  let  him  paint  him 
with  his  tiara  as  king  of  heaven,  and  king  of 
earth,  and  king  of  hell.  He  is  a  usurper ;  for 
God's  is  the  kingdom.  Let  the  materialist  par- 
cel earth  into  kingdoms,  and  assign  the  material 
laws  by  which  they  are  governed ;  not  theirs  but 
God's  is  the  kingdom.  Let  avarice  and  ambition 
give  the  kingdom  to  their  respective  idols ;  they 
are  doomed  to  be  destroyed.  And  all  eternity 
will  attest,  what  all  Christians  have  proclaimed, 
"  Tiiine,  O  Lord,  is  the  kingdom."  And  louder 
than  all,  rising  above  all,  from  countless  holy 
hearts  and  from  countless  happy  homes,  will  be 
this  ascription,  "Thou  art  the  blessed  and  the 
only  Potentate ;  Tliine  is  the  greatness,  Thine  the 


294  TEACH  US  TO  PR  A  Y. 

power,  and  Thine  the  gloiy  ;  all  things  are  of 
Thee  and  all  things  come  of  Thee  ;  and  we  will 
cast  our  crowns  before  Thee ;  and  view  the  earth 
as  Th}^  footstool  and  heaven  as  Thy  throne  ;  and 
hail  and  crown  Thee  as  King  and  Lord  of  all." 

" Thine,"  also,  it  is  added,  "is  the  power." 
How  expressive  is  that.  Power  equal  to  the 
■width  of  His  royal  possessions.  To  have  prop- 
erty, but  not  have  the  power  to  make  use  of  it, 
is  a  very  painful  state.  But  to  have  property 
wide  as  infinitude,  lasting  as  eternity ;  and  to 
have  the  power  that  can  give  it  and  distribute  it 
when,  where,  and  how  one  pleases  ;  tbat  indeed 
is  power.  "  Thine  is  the  power  to  give  the  largest 
blessing  we  have  asked  ;  Thine  is  the  power  to 
make  a  few  barley  loaves  to  be  a  festal  entertain- 
ment; Thine  is  the  power  to  forgive  sins;  Thine 
is  the  power  to  lead  not  into  temptation  ;  Thine 
is  the  power  to  deliver  us  from  evil ;  Thine  is 
the  power  to  give  us  daily  bread.  Let  Satan 
intrench  himself  as  he  may;  Thine  is  the  power 
to  dislodge  him.     Let  sin  spread  its  poison  as  it 


ADORATION.  295 

may  ;  Thine  is  the  power  to  neutralize  and  to 
cast  it  out.  Let  sorrow  wring  the  heart,  and 
give  birth  to  tears;  Thine  is  tlie  power  to  heal, 
to  stanch,  and  to  remove  it."  We  speak  of  the 
powers  that  be:  these  are  but  reflections  of  His. 
We  speak  of  the  powers  of  nature  :  these  are  but 
evidences  of  His  presence.  We  speak  of  the 
power  of  statesmen,  of  the  power  of  money,  of 
the  power  of  influence :  these  are  but  tlie  crot- 
chets of  a  day  ;  for  power  belongeth  unto  God. 
"  Unto  thee,  O  Lord,  also  belongeth  mercy ; 
Thine  is  the  power  to  raise  the  dead,  Thine  the 
power  to  change  the  living  ;  Thine  the  power  to 
cast  out  death  ;  Thine  the  power  to  bind  Satan 
for  a  thousand  years;  Thine  the  power  to  bring 
down  from  heaven  the  new  Jerusalem  like  a 
bride  adorned  for  the  bridegroom,  and  to  bring- 
in  the  reign  of  everlasting  and  uninterrupted 
peace." 

"  And  thine  "  also,  it  is  added,  "  is  the  glory." 
The  kingdom  is  Thine  :  all  within  its  inflnite  and 
boundless  domain  are  the  riches  on  which  Thou 


296  TEACH  US  TO  PRA  Y. 

art  eiitlironed.  The  ])ower  is  Thine  ;  Tliou  hast 
jurisdiction  over  all ;  power  to  wield,  to  w^ork, 
to  employ,  to  give,  to  make  use  of  all.  But  of 
this  kingdom,  wide  as  space,  of  these  trophies 
that  Tliy  power  achieves,  great  as  omnipotence, 
the  glory  is  not  man's  ;  the  glory  is  entirely 
Thine :  the  glory  of  being  what  Thou  art,  as  "  I 
am,"  the  First  and  the  Last ;  the  glory  of  giving 
where  there  is  no  claim  ;  the  glory  of  forgiving 
where  there  is  no  merit ;  the  glory  of  delivering 
where  there  is  no  strength  ;  the  glory  of  preserv- 
ing where  there  is  ceaseless  liability  to  fall. 
Thine  is  the  glory  of  creation.  Once  it  was  the 
very  mirror  of  God  ;  it  is  now  broken  into  frag- 
ments, and  each  fragment  dimmed  and  stained 
by  the  breath  of  sin.  And  yet  there  remain,  in 
this  fallen  and  dismantled  earth,  traces  enough 
of  its  aboriginal  grandeur  to  let  us  feel  it  was  a 
God  that  made  it ;  havoc  and  wreck  enough  of 
man's  sin  to  let  us  feel  what  a  terrible  thing  sin 
is.  But  whatever  beauty  lingers  in  its  seques- 
tered nooks  ;  whatever  fragrance  is  exhaled  fiom 


ADORATION.  297 

its  loveliest  flowers  ;  whatever  brilliancy  is  in  the 
stars,  the  flowers  of  the  sky ;  whatever  beauty 
is  in  the  flowers,  the  stars  of  the  earth ;  these 
set  forth  Thy  glory  :  Thy  smiles  gave  to  every 
blossom  its  tints :  Thy  breath  gave  to  every 
flower  its  fragrance.  All  that  is  in  the  earth, 
and  all  that  is  in  the  sea,  and  all  that  is  in  tlie 
heaven,  and  all  that  lingers  and  remains  of 
beauty,  glory,  and  excellence,  reflects  Thyself! 
for  "  the  heavens  declare  Thy  glory  ;  the  firma- 
ment showeth  forth  thy  handiwork.  Day  unto 
day  uttereth  speech,  and  night  unto  night  show- 
eth knowledge."  That  19th  Psalm  is  often  very 
much  mistaken.  It  is  in  our  version,  "There  is 
no  speech  nor  language ;  the  voice  of  tlie  stars 
and  of  the  firmament,  giving  God  the  glory,  is 
not  heard."  But  this  is  not  the  translation. 
These  words  are  no  doubt  true,  "  There  is  no 
speech  nor  language  in  which  their  voice  is  not 
heard."  But  in  the  original  it  is  far  more  elo- 
quent :  "  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  ; 

and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handiwork.    Day 
13^ 


298  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and  night  unto  night 
teacheth  knowledge."  But  as  if  correcting  liim- 
self,  he  says,  "  No,  there  is  no  speech,  there  is  no 
hinguage ;  their  voice  is  not  heard  ;  yet  their 
line  is  gone  out  through  all  the  ends  of  the 
earth ;"  their  silence  is  their  expressive  elo- 
quence. 

And  if  his  be  the  glory  of  creation,  His,  in  the 
next  place,  is  the  glory  of  providence.  He  re- 
strains what  He  does  not  approve,  He  over- 
rules what  he  must  condemn.  We  sometimes 
thought  when  the  boom  of  the  cannon  sounded 
in  many  a  sorrowing  heart,  borne  on  the 
eastern  gale  from  Sebastopol,  and  we  heard 
of  the  brave  that  found  there  a  gory  grave  ; 
we  sometimes  thought,  "  Surely  God  has  for- 
gotten the  earth ;  and  given  up  men  to  destroy 
one  another."  But  we  judged  rashly;  God 
was  in  the  Crimea  and  in  India  as  He  is  in  any 
Christian  congregation  ;  He  was  watching  all  that 
was  there  with  an  eye  as  omniscient,  with  a  heart 
as  rich  in  sympathy,  as  in  the  midst  of  this  great 


ADORATION.  £99 

metropolis  and  in  the  lioly  flocks  that  assemble 
in  it.  And  out  of  all  that  transpired  in  the  dis- 
tant East  you  may  see  emerging  the  fnlfihnent 
of  ancient  prophecies,  salvation  to  countless 
tliousands,  glory  to  His  name,  and  a  benefit  and 
a.  blessing  to  mankind.  It  was  through  a  cross 
that  salvation  came  ;  it  is  still  by  a  baptism  of 
tears  that  the  world's  progress  is  promoted  and 
secured.  It  is  true  of  Christians,  it  is  true  of  all 
in  one  sense,  "  Through  much  tribulation  we 
must  pass  on  to  a  better,  a  holier,  and  a  happier 
state."  His  then  is  the  glory  of  providence  ;  and 
where  glory  is  not  given  Him  as  a  free  offering, 
it  is  exacted  as  a  reluctant  sacrifice.  Pharaoh 
glorifies  God  just  as  the  Apostle  Paul  does. 
Pharaoh  gives  it  as  a  reluctant  sacrifice  ;  Paul 
gives  it  up  as  a  joyous  and  a  free-will  offering. 
But  above  all.  Thine,  O  Lord,  is  the  glory  of 
redeeming  love.  Creation  sets  forth  His  glory  ; 
creation  as  it  will  be,  will  reflect  it  in  yet  brighter 
rays.  Providence  sets  forth  His  glory ;  for  what 
is    history  ?       Prophecy    fulfilled.       What    is 


300  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

prophecy  ?  History  stretching  into  the  future. 
What  are  both  ?  God  in  tlie  world.  But  in  a 
higher  sense  still  redemption  reflects  His  glory. 
There  He  is  seen  to  be  just  while  He  justifies  the 
sinner  that  believes.  Whatever  good  is  experi- 
enced in  your  life,  whatever  sense  of  pardon  is 
tasted  in  your  heart,  whatever  hope  you  are  free 
to  cherish  for  the  future,  whatever  commnnion 
you  have  with  God,  whatever  affection  you  feel 
as  a  child  to  Him  you  recognise  as  a  Father  ; 
whatever  has  been  done  for  you  in  the  past , 
whatever  is  promised  to  you  in  the  future ;  all,  all, 
all  give  the  undivided  glory  to  God  ;  the  good, 
the  joy,  the  blessing,  only  to  you.  And  a  day 
comes  when  this  earth,  like  a  precious  gem,  shall 
be  engraven  with  the  name  and  reflect  only  the 
glory  of  God ;  when  all  its  redeemed  ones, 
a  mighty  company,  shall  cast  their  crowns  before 
the  Lamb,  and  say,  "  Not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy 
name,  O  Lord,  be  the  glory."  A  day  comes  when 
all  prayers  shall  cease,  for  there  shall  be  no 
wants;  and  all  praise  shall:  increase,  for  there 


ADORATION.  301 

shall  be  nothing  but  joys  to  thank  God  for  ;  and 
a  miglity  multitude,  whom  no  man  can  num- 
ber, saying,  "  Salvation  unto  our  God  and  to  the 
Lamb  for  ever  and  ever."  And  then  from  angels 
in  heaven,  witnessing  that  glorious  phenomenon, 
a  redeemed  church  ;  and  from  earth  below,  de- 
livered from  its  groans,  its  travail,  and  its  agony, 
shall  be  heard  the  loud  and  the  jubilant"  Amen  ;" 
"  So  be  it."  "  The  faithful  and  the  true  Witness, 
Christ  Jesus,  has  commenced  and  closed  the  won- 
drous story  ;"  and  angels  that  sang  at  His  birth, 
"  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest ;  on  earth  peace, 
and  good  will  towards  man  ;"  shall  sing  when  lie 
is  crowned  Lord  of  all,  "Thine  is  the  kingdom, 
and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  for  ever." 

Have  we  learned  to  pray  the  Lord's  Prayer  ? 
A  poor  monk  can  repeat  his  hundred  Paternosters 
a  day  ;  but  without  offering  one  single  prayer. 
A  true  Christian  can  repeat  a  single  clause, 
"  Deliver  us  from  evil,"  in  the  true  spirit,  and 
solemnity,  and  fervour  of  prayer.  Have  you  felt 
your  wants,  your  sins,  your  temptations,  your 


302  TEACH  US  TO  PRAY. 

perils  ?  and  have  you  learned  that  Christ  alone  is 
able  to  deliver  from  them  all?  He,  blessed 
thonght !  has  satisfied  to  the  uttermost ;  therefore 
He  can  save  sinners  to  the  uttermost  also.  His 
blood  upon  a  sinner's  head  is  the  heaviest  judg- 
ment; His  blood  upon  a  sinner's  heart  is  the 
greatest  mercy,  the  richest  blessing.  And  oh 
surely,  surely  that  precious  blood  that  satisfied 
the  justice  of  God  may  well  satisfy  and  appease 
all  the  accusations  of  your  conscience,  and  give 
you  peace,  even  the  peace  tliat  passeth  under- 
standing. It  matters  not  who  are  our  accusers  if 
Christ  be  our  Advocate.  He  knows  not  himself 
as  he  ought  who  does  not  see  his  need  of  Christ; 
and  he  does  not  value  Christ  as  he  ought  who 
does  not  see  the  sufficiency  of  Christ.  There  is 
nothing  in  this  prayer  that  He  will  give  for  our 
sakes  ;  there  is  nothing  in  it  that  He  will  with- 
hold for  Christ's  sake.  Have  you  thus  prayed  ? 
Have  you  thus  presented  it?  And  if  we  cannot 
yet  pray  it  as  we  would,  we  can  at  least  preface 


ADORATION.  303 

it  with  the  petition  of  the  disciples,  "  Lord,  teach 
us  to  pray." 

Thhie,  not  Caesar's,  not  Herod's,  not  chance's, 
is  the  kingdom.  God  reigns,  and  all  on  earth  are 
His  servants,  or  His  subjects,  or  His  sons. 

Thine  is  the  power,  equal  to  the  forgiveness  of 
the  greatest  sin,  the  fuliihnent  of  the  largest  pro- 
mise, the  accomplishment  of  the  richest  good. 

Tliine,  not  man's,  not  the  priest's,  not  the  crea- 
ture's, is  the  glory. 


TEE    END. 


CARLETON,    PUBLISHER, 

(LATE  PvUDD   &  CAKLETON,) 

413    Broadway, 
NEW      YORK. 


^r 


^ 


NEW      BOOKS 

And   New   Editions   Recently    Issued   by 

CARLETON,  PUBLISHER, 

(LATE  EUDD  &  CARLETON.) 
418    BJiOABWAT,    NEW    YORK. 


N.B. — Thb  Publisher,  upon  receipt  of  the  price  in  advance,  will  send  &aj 
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Tlie  Cloister  and  tlie  Heartb. 

A  magnificent  new  historical  novel,  by  Charles  Reade,  author 
of  "  Peg  Woffington,"  "  Christie  Johnstone,"  etc.,  etc.,  $1.25. 

A  Book  about  Doctors. 
An  amusing,  entertaining,  and  gossipy  volume  about  the  medi- 
cal profession — with  many  anecdotes.    From  English  ed.,  $1.50. 

Rutledge. 
A  powerful  new  American  novel,  by  an  unknown  author,  $]  .25. 

Tlie  Sutlierlands. 
The  new  novel  by  the  popular  author  of  "  Rutledge,"  $1,25. 

Tlie  Habits  of  Gobd  Society. 
A  hand-book  for  ladies  and  gentlemen.    Best,  wittiest,  most  en- 
tertaining work  on  taste  and  good  manners  ever  printed,  -$1.25. 

Tbe  Great  Tribulation. 
Or,  Things  coming  on  the  earth,  by  Rev.  John  Gumming,  D.D., 
author  "Apocalyptic  Sketches,"  etc.,  two  series,  each      $1.00. 

The  Great  Preparation. 

Or,  Redemption  dravveth  nigh,  by  Rev.  John  Cumming,  D.D., 
author  "The  Great  Tribulation," etc.,  two  series,  each  $1.00. 

Teacb  us  to  Pray. 

A  new  devotional  work  on  The  Lord's  Prayer,  by  Rev.  John 
Cumming,  D.D.,  author  "The  Great  Tribulation,"  etc.,  $1,00. 


LIST  OF  BOOKS  PUBLISHED 


I<ove  (li' Amour). 

A  remarkable  and  celebrated  volume  on  Love,  translated  from 
the  French  of  M.  J.  Michelet,  by  Dr.  J.  W.  Palmer,     $1.00. 

'Woman  (La  Femme). 
A  continuation  of  "  Love  (L'Amour),"  by  same  author,  $1.00, 

Tbe  Sea  (La  mer). 
New  work  by  Michelet,  author  "  Love"  and  "  Woman,"  $  1 .00. 

The  ITIoral  History  of  Women. 
Companion  to  Michelet's  *'  L'Amour,"  from  the  French,  $1.00. 

ITIotlier  Goose  for  Grovrn  Folks. 
A  brochure  of  humorous  and  satirical  rhymes  for  old  folks,  based 
upon  the  famous  "  Mother  Goose  Melodies,"  illustrated,  75  cts. 

The  Adventares  of  Verdant  Green. 
A  rollicking  humorous  novel  of  English  College  life  and  expe- 
riences at  Oxford  University,  with  nearly  200  illus.,       $1.00. 

The  Old  merchants  of  New  Tork. 
Being  entertaining  reminiscences  and   recollections   of  ancient 
mercantile  New  York  City,  by  "  Walter  Barrett,  clerk,"  $1.50. 

The  Culprit  Fay. 
Joseph  Rodman  Drake's  faery  poem,  elegantly  printed,      50  cts. 

Doctor  Antonio. 
One  of  the  very  best  love-tales  of  Italian  hfe  ever  published, 
by  G.  Ruffini,  author  of  "Lorenzo  Benoni,"  etc.,  etc.,  $1.25. 

Lavlnia. 
A  new  love-story,  by  the  author  of  "  Doctor  Antonio,"  $1.25. 

Dear  Experience. 
An  amusing  Parisian  novel,  by  author  "  Doctor  Antonio,"  %  1 .00. 

The  Life  of  Alexander  Von  Homboldt. 
A   new  and  popular  biography  of  this  savant,   including  his 
travels  and  labors,  with  an  introduction  by  Bayard  Taylor,  $1.25. 

The  Private  Correspondence  of  Von  Hamboldt 
With  Varnhagen  Von  Ense  and  other  European  celebrities,!  1.25. 

Artemns  Ward. 
The  best  writings  of  this  humorous  author — illustrations,  $1.00. 

Beatrice  Cenci. 
An  historical  novel  by  F.  D.  Guerrazzi,  from  the  Italian,  $1.25. 

Isabella   Orsini. 
An  historical  novel  by  the  author  of  "  Beatrice  Cenci,"  $1.2^. 

The  Spirit  of  HebreTr  Poetry. 
A  new  theological  work  by  Isaac  Taylor,  author  "  History  of 
Enthusiasm,"  etc. — introduction  by  Wm.  Adams  DJD.,  $2.00. 


BY  CAIiLETOX,  A'EW  YORK.  6 

Cesar  Birottean. 

The  first  of  a  series  of  selections  from  the  best  French  novels  of 
Honore  de  Balzac.  Translated  from  the  latest  Paris  editions  by 
O.  W.  Wight  and  Frank  B.  Goodrich  ("  Dick  Tinto"),  *i.oo. 

Petty  Annoyances  of  Carried  Life. 
The  second  of  the  series  of  Balzac's  best  French  novels,  §i.oo. 

Tiie  Alcbemist. 
The  third  of  the  series  of  Balzac's  best  French  novels,  $1.00. 

Eugenie  Grandet. 
The  fourth  of  the  series  of  Balzac's  best  French  novels,  $1.00. 

Tbe  National  Scbool  for  the  Soldier. 

An  elementarj-  work  for  the  soldier  ;  teaching  by  questions  and 
answers,  thorough  military  tactics,  bv  Capt.  Van  Ness,  50  cts. 

Tbe  Partisan  Leader. 

The  notorious  Disunion  novel,  published  at  the  South  many 
years  ago — then  suppressed — now  reprinted,  2  vols,  in  1,  §1.00. 

A  Woman's  thoughts  aboat  Women. 

A  new  and  one  of  her  best  works,  bv  Miss  Mulock,  author  of 

"  John  Halifax,  Gentleman,"  "  A  Life  for  a  Life,"  etc.,  $1.00. 

Ballad  of  Babie  Bell. 

Together  with  other  poems  by  Thomas  Bailey  Aldrich,  75  cts. 

The  Course  of  True  Liove 

Never  did  run  smooth,  a  poem  bv  Thomas  B.  Aldrich,  50  cts. 

Poems  of  a  Tear. 
By  Thomas  B.  Aldrich,  author  of  "  Babie  Bell,"  &c.,     75  cts. 

Curiosities  of  Natural  History. 

An  entertaining  and  gossiping  volume  on  beasts,  birds,  and 
fishes,  by  F.-X-  Buckland  ;  two  series,  ea.  sold  separately,  $1.25. 

The  Diamond  AVedding. 
And  other  miscellaneous  poems,  by  Edmund  C.  Stedman,  75  cts. 

The   Prince's  Ball. 
A  satirical  poem  by  E.  C.  Stedman,  with  illustrations,    50  cts. 

A  Life  of  Hugh  .lliller. 
Author  of  "  Testimony  of  the  Rocks,"  ic,  new  edition,  $1.25. 

Eric;  or,  Little  by  Little. 
A  capital  tale  of  English  school-life,  by  F.  W.  Farrar,   ?:i.oo. 

Lola  ITIontez. 
Her  lectures  and  autobiography,  steel  portrait,  new  ed.,  $1.25. 

Spots  on  the  Sun. 
Or;  The  Plumb-Line  papers,  by  Rev.  T.  M.  Hopkins,  $1.00 


6  LIST  OF  BOOKS  PUBLISHED 


Tom  Tiddler's  Gronnd. 

Charles  Dickens's  Christmas  Story  for  1861,  paper  cover,  25  cts. 

National  Hymns. 
An  essay  by  Richard  Grant  White.      8vo.  embellished,  Si.oo. 

George  Briniley. 
Literary  essays  reprinted  from  the  British  Quarterlies,      81.25. 

Tlie  Kelly's  and  the  O'Kelly's. 
Novel  by  Anthony  Trollope,  author  of  "  Doctor  Thome,"  $1.25. 

General    Nathaniel    Ijyon. 
The  life  and  political  writings  of  this  patriot  soldier,        $1.00. 

Twenty  Years  Around  the  l^orld. 
A  volume  of  travel  by  John  G.  Vassar,  Poughkeepsie,     $2.50. 

Philip  Thaxter. 
A  new  American  novel,  one  vol.  i2mo.,  cloth  bound,      $1.00. 

Nothing  to  Wear. 
A  satirical  poem  by  Wm.  A.  Butler,  with  illustrations,    50  cts. 

Political  History  ol  New  York. 
By  Jabez  B.  Hammond,  LL.D.,  3  vols,  steel  portraits,     $6.00. 

Vernon  Grove. 
A  novel  by  Mrs.  Caroline  H.  Glover,  Charleston,  S.  C.,$i.oo. 

The  Book  of  Chess  L.itorature. 
A  complete  Encyclopaedia  of  this  subject,  by  D.  W.  Fiske,  §1.50. 

From  Hay t: me  to  Hopping. 
A  novel  by  the  author  of"  Our  Farm  of  Four  Acres,"  6^1.00. 

inilcs   Standish,  lilnstrated. 
Longfellow's  poem  with  illustrations  by  J.  W.  Ehningcr,  86.00. 

The  Afternoon  of  Unmarried  l<ife. 
An  interesting  theme  admirably  treated,  new  edition,       81.25. 

Fast  Day  Sermons 
Of  1861,  the  best  Sermons  by  the  prominent  Divines,    81.25. 

A  Guide  to  Washington. 
A  complete  hand-book  for  the  National  Capitol,  illus.,    81.00. 

Doesticks'  l.etters. 
The  original  letters  of  this  great  humorist,  illustrated,      81.25. 

Pi  u-ri-bus-tah. 
A  comic  history  of  America,  by  "Doesticks,"  illus.,        81.25. 

The  ICIephant  Club. 
A  humorous  view  of  club-life,  by  "Doesticks,"  illus.,      81.25. 

The   \%'itches  of  New  York. 
Comic  adventures  among  fortune  tellers,  by  "  Doesticks,"    81.25. 


BY  CARLETON,  NEW  YORK. 


Fort   Lafayette. 

A  novel  by  the  Hon.  Benjamin  Wood  of  New  York,     Si.oo. 
The  ITIexican  Papers. 

In  five  separate  parts;  by  Edward  E.  Dunbar,  per  set,  §i.oo. 

Debt  and  Grace, 

The  Doctrine  of  a  Future  Lite  by  Rev.  C.  F.  Hudson,  Si. 25. 

Tlicssalonica. 
Or;  the  model  church,  by  H.  L.  Hastings,  i2mo.,  75  cts. 

Poems  by  E.  G.  Holland. 
Niagara,  and  other  poems;  in  blue  and  gold  binding,     75  cts. 

Wild  Southern  Scenes. 

A  tale,  by  the  author  of  "  Wild  Western  Scenes,"  $1.25. 

Sybello 

And  other  poems  by  L ,  blue  and  gold  binding,       75  cts. 

The  Spuytendnyvil   Chronicle. 
A  novel  of  fashionable  life  and  society  in  New  York,     75  cts. 

Ballads  of  the  \rar. 
A  collection  of  poems  for  1861,  by  George  W.  Hewes,  75  cts. 

Hartley  INornian. 

A  new  and  striking  American  novel;  one  large  i2mo.,  $1.25. 

The   Vagabond. 

Sketches  on  literature,  art,  and  society,  by  Adam  Badeau,  $1.00. 

Kmcline  Sherman  8inith. 

A  collection  of  selected  poems,  large  octavo,  elegant,      $2.00. 

Edgar  Poe  and  his  Critics. 
A  literary  critique  by  Mrs.  Sarah  Helen  Whitman,         75  cts. 

The  New  and  the  Old. 
Sketches  in  California  and  India,  by  Dr.  J.  W.  Palmer,  $1.25. 

Up  and  Down  the  Irrawaddi. 
Adventures  in  the  Burman  Empire,  by  J.  W.  Palmer,      6i.oo. 

Sarah  Gould. 
A  volume  of  miscellaneous  poems,  in  blue  and  gold,       75  cts. 

Cosmogrony  ; 
Or,  the  mysteries  of  creation,  by  Thomas  A.  Davies,     $1.50. 

An  Answer  to  Hugh  miller 
And  other  kindred  geologists,  by  Thomas  A.  Davies,      $1.25. 

Walter  Ashwood. 
A  novel  by  "  Palu  Siogvolk,"  author  of  "  Schediasms,"  §1.00. 

Southivold. 
A  new  society  novel  by  Mrs.  Lillie  Devereux  Umsted,   81.00. 


.J 


1 

8  LIST  OF  BOOKS  PUBLISHED 

BroYvn's  Carpenter's  Assistant. 

A  practical  work  on  architecture,  with  plans,  large  4to.,  S^.oo. 

Two  Ways  to  IVcdIock. 

A  novelette  reprinted  from  the  N.  Y.  Home  Journal,      $1.00. 

A  Tribute  to  Kane, 

And  other  poems,  by  Geo.  W.  Chapman,  Milwaukee,  75  cts. 

Ethel^s  Love  Life. 

A  love-story  by  Mrs.  Margaret  J.  M.  Sweat,  Portland,  $1.00. 

Recollections  of  the  Kevolutfon. 

A  private  journal  and  diary  of  1776,  by  Sidney  Barclay,  $1.00. 

Poems  by  Flasli. 

A  collection  of  poems  by  Henry  L.  Flash,  Mobile,        75  cts. 

Romance  of  a  Poor  Ifoung  Man. 
A  capital  novel  from  the  French  of  Octave  Feuillet,       $1.00. 

A  New  Monetary  System. 
Or;  rights  of  labor  and  property,  by  Edward  Kellogg,  $1.00. 

Wa-'\Ya-W^anda. 
A  legend  of  old  Orange  County,  New  York,  in  verse,  75  cts. 

Flirtation 
And  what  comes  of  it.     A  play,  by  Frank  B.  Goodrich,  25  cts. 

Blanclie. 
A  legend  in  verse,  by  Sarah  W.  Brooks,  Providence,       50  cts. 

Husband  vs.  Wife. 

A  satirical  poem,  by  Henry  Clapp,  Jr.,  illus.  by  Hoppin,  60  cts. 
Roumania. 

Travels  in  Eastern  Europe  by  J.  O.  Noycs,  illustrated,  Si. 50. 

Tlie  Christmas  Tree. 

A  volume  of  miscellany  for  the  young,  with  illustrations,  75  cts. 

Tbe  Captive  IViglitingale. 
A  charming  little  book  for  children,  many  illustrations,    75  cts. 

Sunshine  tlirongli  the  Clouds. 
Comprising  stories  for  juveniles,  beautifully  illustrated,  75  cts. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 
A  popular  life  of  Lincoln  and  Hamlin,  pamphlet,  25  cts. 

John  C.  Fremont. 
A  popular  life  of  Fremont  and  Dayton,  pamphlet,         25  cts. 

James   Buclianan. 
A  popular  life  of  Buchanan  and  Brcckcnridge,  pamphlet,  25  cts. 

John  Bell. 
A  popular  life  of  Bell  and  Everett,  pamphlet  covers.      25  cts. 


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